On the other end of the scale, there are ornamental magnifying glasses, designed for light use, but more often wind up as a curio to add to bookshelves and cupboards. Read More.

Just like a magnifying glass, lensed light can be magnified or de-magnified. If the light coming towards us from a distant source is lensed by a massive galaxy located in between, ...

The gravity of a galaxy two-and-a-half billion light-years away has acted like a cosmic magnifying glass to amplify the light of a distant supernova.