1999A&A...343L..35W

The optical Einstein ring 0047-2808 was imaged by the VLT UT1 during the science verification programme. The ring is the image of a high-redshift z=3.595 star-forming galaxy, with strong Lyα emission at 5589Å, gravitationally lensed by a massive early-type galaxy at z=0.485. Relative to earlier NTT data the high signal-to-noise ratio of the VLT Lyα narrow-band image allows much improved constraints to be placed on the surface-brightness profile of the source and on the mass, leading to a measured mass-to-light ratio of M/L_B∼13h for the deflector galaxy. We have combined the VLT B-band and Lyα narrow-band images with a K-band image obtained at UKIRT to produce a deep colour image of the system.