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Scientists Discover Way to Send Information into Black Holes Without Using Energy

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Scientists Discover a New Cosmic Phenomenon: ‘Microlensing of Microlensing’ Could Unlock the Universe's Biggest Secrets

Astronomers have discovered a fascinating new way to study the Universe. A team of researchers led by Salama has successfully simulated a rare phenomenon called "microlensing of microlensing." While the name sounds complicated, the idea is actually quite simple. It happens when light from a very distant object passes through two different galaxies, and the stars in both galaxies bend the light one after another.

This discovery could help scientists learn more about black holes, distant galaxies, dark matter, and even the mysterious force called dark energy. It also opens a completely new way to study some of the farthest objects in the Universe.

How Gravity Bends Light

More than 100 years ago, Albert Einstein explained that gravity can bend light. Normally, we think of gravity as the force that keeps us on Earth or makes planets orbit the Sun. But very large objects, like galaxies, have such strong gravity that they can also bend the path of light.

When a galaxy comes between Earth and a distant object, it works like a giant magnifying glass in space. Instead of seeing just one image of the distant object, astronomers may see several brighter and stretched images.

This amazing effect is called gravitational lensing. Today, it is one of the most powerful tools in astronomy because it allows scientists to study objects that are too far away to observe directly.

What Is Microlensing?

Inside every galaxy are billions of stars, along with black holes and other compact objects. These smaller objects also have gravity, and they can bend light too.

This smaller effect is called gravitational microlensing.

Unlike a whole galaxy, a single star cannot create large visible images. Instead, it causes the background object to become slightly brighter or dimmer for a short time.

Astronomers carefully watch these tiny changes in brightness. They use them to study objects that are billions of light-years away.

Microlensing has already helped scientists discover planets, measure the size of distant stars, and study the regions around supermassive black holes.

What Is a Quasar?

The new study focuses on a very bright object called a quasar.

A quasar is the glowing center of a galaxy where a supermassive black hole is pulling in huge amounts of gas and dust. As this material falls toward the black hole, it becomes extremely hot and releases enormous amounts of energy.

In fact, a single quasar can shine brighter than an entire galaxy containing billions of stars.

Because quasars are so bright, astronomers can observe them even if they are billions of light-years away.

A Very Rare Cosmic Alignment

Normally, gravitational lensing involves one galaxy bending the light from one distant object.

But astronomers recently discovered something much rarer.

The system, known as J1721+8842, is nicknamed the "Einstein Zig-Zag."

In this special system, the light from a distant quasar first passes through one galaxy and then through another galaxy before finally reaching Earth.

Both galaxies bend the light, producing six different images of the same quasar.

This type of system is called a double-source-plane gravitational lens.

Only a few such systems have been discovered so far, making them extremely valuable for scientific research.

A New Idea: Microlensing of Microlensing

The researchers wanted to answer an interesting question.

What happens when the stars in the first galaxy bend the quasar's light, and then the stars in the second galaxy bend that already-bent light again?

The answer is something completely new.

Instead of normal microlensing, the light experiences microlensing twice.

The researchers call this compound microlensing, or simply "microlensing of microlensing."

Until now, no one had created realistic computer simulations of this process.

Powerful Computer Simulations

To understand this rare effect, the research team built advanced computer models of the Einstein Zig-Zag system.

The simulations traced billions of light rays as they traveled from the distant quasar, passed through two galaxies filled with stars, and finally reached Earth.

The researchers used powerful computers with graphics processing units (GPUs), which are normally used for gaming and artificial intelligence but are also excellent for scientific calculations.

These simulations required huge amounts of computing power because every light ray could be affected by thousands of stars in both galaxies.

Strange New Light Patterns

The simulations produced results that scientists had never seen before.

Normally, microlensing creates regions where light suddenly becomes much brighter. These regions are called caustics.

In the new study, the second galaxy changed the patterns created by the first galaxy, producing much more complicated shapes.

Some of these shapes looked like butterflies, while others resembled swallowtails or even lips.

These unusual patterns had only been predicted in mathematics before. Now, scientists have shown that they can actually appear in real astronomical systems.

This proves that light behaves in much more complicated ways when it passes through two different lensing galaxies.

The Quasar Becomes More Active

The new simulations also showed that the brightness of the quasar changes differently than expected.

In ordinary microlensing, a quasar slowly becomes brighter and dimmer as stars move across its light.

But with compound microlensing, two major differences appear.

First, the bright flashes become much stronger.

Second, many completely new flashes appear because the second galaxy creates extra lensing effects.

These additional brightness changes could help astronomers recognize compound microlensing when observing real quasars.

Why Is This Important?

This discovery is important because it gives scientists a completely new way to study the Universe.

By analyzing these brightness changes, astronomers can measure the size of the hot material surrounding supermassive black holes with greater accuracy.

They can also learn more about the stars inside distant galaxies.

Most importantly, gravitational lensing helps scientists understand how the Universe is expanding.

Better lensing measurements can improve estimates of important cosmic properties, including the amount of matter in the Universe and the mysterious force known as dark energy, which is causing the Universe to expand faster over time.

More Discoveries Are Coming

Scientists believe this is only the beginning.

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory will soon begin one of the largest sky surveys ever conducted. During its mission, it is expected to discover around 1,000 gravitationally lensed quasars.

The Euclid Space Telescope is also searching the sky for new gravitational lens systems.

Researchers estimate that about one out of every hundred newly discovered galaxy-scale gravitational lenses could contain two background sources at different distances.

Some of these rare systems will likely contain quasars, giving scientists many opportunities to study compound microlensing in real observations.

Challenges for Future Research

Although the first simulations are very successful, scientists know there is still much to learn.

Real galaxies contain not only stars but also huge amounts of dark matter. Future computer models will include both stars and dark matter to make the simulations even more realistic.

Researchers also want to study different types of galaxies because spiral galaxies and elliptical galaxies have different numbers of stars and different structures.

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is already collecting valuable data that could help improve these future simulations.

As computers become more powerful, scientists expect to create even better models that closely match real observations.

A New Window into the Universe

The discovery of microlensing of microlensing marks an exciting new step in astronomy.

For the first time, scientists have shown that light can be bent not just once, but repeatedly by stars in two different galaxies. This creates new patterns of light that were never seen before.

These tiny changes in brightness may seem small, but they contain valuable information about black holes, distant galaxies, dark matter, and the expansion of the Universe.

As powerful telescopes like the Rubin Observatory, Euclid, and the James Webb Space Telescope continue exploring the cosmos, astronomers expect to find many more of these rare systems.

Every new discovery will help us understand the Universe in greater detail, proving once again that even the smallest bends in light can reveal the biggest secrets of space.

Reference: Nada Salama, Daniel J. Ballard, Huimin Qu, Geraint F. Lewis, Karl Glazebrook, "Microlensing of Microlensing: Effects of Random Stars on the Double-Source-Plane Gravitational Lens", Arxiv, 2026. https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.17144


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