Visualising Einstein Rings from the Vicinity of a Schwarzchild Black Hole

A space traveler’s view of the multiple images of distant stars as she descends near and circles a black hole is described through short virtual trips. The formation of multiple Einstein rings is evident in the Python-generated videos. The black hole is modeled using the Schwarzschild metric, while the background stars are taken from the GAIA and Yale Bright star catalogs. Perhaps surprising visualizations are described that are particularly evident when the traveler is between the black hole’s photon sphere and event horizon.