Scientists find powerful window into the extreme reaches of space

There are funhouse mirrors in space.Objects in the universe can be so massive — often clusters of galaxies — that they warp the cosmos, like a bowling ball sitting on a mattress. This creates a curved cosmic lens, bending and distorting light, while also magnifying and brightening the light. It's an invaluable natural telescope for astronomers, and researchers have recently discovered an extremely potent such lens (also called a "gravitational lens").From our view on Earth, it's a ra