Space telescopes use gravitational lensing as a natural magnifying glass to see the most distant galaxies.

Some galaxies are so far away and faint that even our best telescopes cannot spot them on their own. Fortunately, nature gives us a boost. When a massive cluster of galaxies sits directly between us and a far-off target, it acts like a giant magnifying glass. It boosts the light and makes the distant object look much brighter and larger. This cosmic trick has allowed telescopes like Hubble and James Webb to capture pictures of galaxies that formed just after the Big Bang.