Number 41 (Story #2), July 17, 1991 by Phillip F. Schewe and Ben Stein A THIRD EINSTEIN RING , a hundred times brighter than either of the previously discovered rings, is puzzling astronomers. An Einstein ring is a gravitational lens effect caused by the distortion of the image of a distant celestial body by a massive object aligned in front of it in such a way as to produce an elliptical ring of fairly uniform brightness. The Australian and British astronomers who discovered the object believe the ring's abnormally high intensity arises from either an extremely bright source or an unusually large amplification by the lensing object, requiring an extremely high degree of alignment. (Nature, 11 July 1991.)