The center of this image is dominated by a huge galaxy cluster in the Cetus constellation, captured by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. This particular impression is populated with a peaceful collection of elliptical and also spiral galaxies. Nevertheless, galaxies surrounding the main group, named SPT-CL J0019-2026, seem stretched into bright arcs, as if distorted by a huge magnifying cup.
This particular cosmic contortion, called a gravitational lens, happens when the robust gravitation subject associated with a massive object, such as a galaxy cluster, distorts as well as magnifies lightweight from background items. Normally, these things are far too light and distant to look at, but Hubble’s magnifying lens helps him to seem even deeper into the universe.
This’s part of an ongoing project to fill up brief gaps in Hubble’s observing routine by routinely looking at the foremost massive galaxy clusters in the distant universe in hopes of identifying promising targets for even more research with both Hubble as well as the NASA or ESA / CSA James Webb Space Telescope. This particular galaxy cluster lies at a great distance of 4.6 billion light-years from Earth.
