Using Supermassive Black Holes as Cosmic Telescopes to Explore the Universe

Using Supermassive Black Holes as Cosmic Telescopes to Explore the Universe: "Gravitational lenses are common throughout the universe. They are caused by massive objects such as stars or galaxies such as Einstein's Cross shown above that bend rays of light passing nearby. If these objects are between the earth and a more distant light source, the light will therefore be brighter and easier to observe, but also very distorted. If the alignment of the various stellar bodies is almost perfect, the image of the source will be multiplied."