Space.com: Einstein cross! Gravitationally lensed 'flower' spotted in deep space (photo)

What’s really happening in this new image is the central galaxy is acting as a gravitational lens, bending and magnifying light from a hidden galaxy that lies behind it. This scenario causes us to see duplicate images of the background galaxy from our perspective on Earth, according to a statement from the ESO. These duplicate images create the ring of flower "petals" we see around the orange central galaxy.