Webb telescope captures galaxy three times: Why it happened

The James Webb Space Telescope has captured an image that may make viewers double take. 

The shot features a special galaxy cluster – known as RX J2129 – and three different images of the same supernova-hosting galaxy.

RX J2129 is located approximately 3.2 billion light-years from Earth in the constellation Aquarius. 

The tripled galaxy is shown this way due to gravitational lensing. 

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Gravitational lensing occurs when a massive celestial body causes a sufficient curvature of spacetime to bend the path of light traveling past or through it – like a vast lens.

The mass and gravity of the galaxy cluster is so great that time and space around it is warped, magnifying, multiplying and distorting galaxies behind it.

The supernova in the triple-lensed background galaxy was discovered by astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope

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It contains a Type Ia supernova. Supernovae are explosions that take place during the final stages of the death of a supermassive star. A Type Ia supernova occurs roughly once every 500 years in the Milky Way and NASA says evidence shows it originates from some binary star systems that contain at least one white dwarf – the small, hot core remnant of a sun-like star.

The supernovae produce a fairly consistent luminosity, which allows astronomers to calculate astronomical distances. Scientists are able to understand how strongly the galaxy cluster is magnifying background objects and how massive it is. 

"As well as distorting the images of background objects, gravitational lenses can cause distant objects to appear much brighter than they would otherwise," the European Space Agency said in a post. "If the gravitational lens magnifies something with a known brightness, such as a Type Ia supernova, then astronomers can use this to measure the ‘prescription’ of the gravitational lens."

Furthermore, the spectroscopy of the supernova was obtained, allowing for the comparison of the supernova to Type Ia supernovae in the nearby universe. 

The agency said that this is an important way to verify that methods of measuring vast distances works as expected.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox to sign bill banning abortion clinic operations

The governor of Utah plans to sign legislation that would effectively ban abortion clinics inside the state.

Gov. Spencer Cox announced his intention Friday after the legislation passed the Utah Senate on Thursday.

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Under the expected law, abortions would not be procurable from clinics and all legal abortion procedures would need to be performed in a hospital.

The proposal, introduced by Utah state Rep. Karianne Lisonbee, would ban licensing of new abortion clinics within the state. It would also cease the operation of all current abortion clinics once their licenses expire.

The legislation also confirms the state's definition of abortion in order to address concerns on liability in legal exceptions to the Utah abortion ban.

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"One of the concerns with the trigger bill that medical providers had across the state was there was a lack of clarity that would have made it hard for them to perform legal abortions," said Cox.

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, a 2020 Utah state law banning abortions was immediately triggered into effect. 

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The ban does not apply in pregnancies involving rape, incest, threat to maternal well-being, and other common cases of exception.

Cox signed a bill in January banning gender-affirming surgery on minors who have not been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. 

The governor said it was important to pause "these permanent and life-altering treatments for new patients until more and better research can help determine the long-term consequences."