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In a particularly stunning example of the Einstein Cross, astronomers have discovered a supernova that can be observed again and again. Gravitational lensing effects result in the light from the stellar explosion taking 4 different routes, each route taking a different amount of time to reach Earth. The star SN Refsdal is/was 9.3 billion light years from Earth, while the lensing galaxy cluster MACS J1149.6+2223 sits a little closer at 5 billion light years distant.
While this isn't the first example of the Einstein Cross effect proposed in 1969, it is the first example of a supernova being viewed through one.
The full paper is available on Sciencemag.org for a fee, but Physics World has an adequate summary of the discovery.
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Einstein Cross Shows Us the Same Supernova Explosion Four Times
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Trying to be happy is like trying to build a machine for which the only
specification is that it should run noiselessly.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Justin Case on Saturday March 07 2015, @01:35PM
A common question is if the light rays are being distorted by an intermediate mass why isn't the image a ring?
The best answer I've seen is here:
https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/14056/how-does-gravitational-lensing-account-for-einsteins-cross [stackexchange.com]
tl;dr: the lens is a galaxy, not a point, so the distortion is not symmetrical. Plus math and dark matter, woo-hoo!