(Image: ALMA (NRAO/ESO/NAOJ); B. Saxton NRAO/AUI/NSF)

Beyoncé, meet Einstein. The physicist’s theory of general relativity, which celebrates its centenary this year, is responsible for putting a giant cosmic ring on a galaxy hidden at the centre of this image.

The ring is actually an illusion created by the alignment of two distant galaxies as seen from Earth. Albert Einstein’s theory predicts that the gravitational effects of the nearer galaxy bends the light of the more distant one around it, a process called gravitational lensing. This poignant moment was captured by the ALMA radio telescope array in Chile last October.

The distant galaxy, in glowing orange, is known as SDP.81 and is nearly 12 billion light years away. The closer galaxy, not visible in this image, is only 4 billion light years away and has the less snappy name SDSS J090311.57+003906.5.

Gravitational lensing provides astronomers with a way of studying distant galaxies in greater detail than would otherwise be possible. ALMA picks up light emitted by glowing dust in SDP.81 and also sees signs of carbon monoxide and water molecules in the ring, helping astronomers determine its structure and internal motion.