esahubble_heic1106a April 12th, 2011
Credit: NASA, ESA, J. Richard (CRAL) and J.-P. Kneib (LAM). Acknowledgement: Marc Postman (STScI)
The giant galaxy cluster in the centre of this image contains so much dark matter mass that its gravity bends the light of more distant objects. This means that for very distant galaxies in the background, the clusters gravitational field acts as a sort of magnifying glass, bending and concentrating the distant objects light towards Hubble. These gravitational lenses are one tool astronomers can use to extend Hubbles vision beyond what it would normally be capable of observing. This way some of the very first galaxies in the Universe can be studied by astronomers. The lensing effect can also be used to determine the distribution of matter both ordinary and dark matter within the cluster.
Provider: Hubble Space Telescope | ESA
Image Source: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic1106a/
Curator: ESA/Hubble, Garching bei München, Germany
Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Telescope | Spectral Band | Wavelength | |
---|---|---|---|
Hubble (WFC3) | Infrared (Near-IR) | 1.6 µm | |
Hubble (ACS) | Optical (R) | 775.0 nm | |
Hubble (ACS) | Optical (I) | 814.0 nm | |
Hubble (ACS) | Infrared (Z) | 850.0 nm | |
Hubble (WFC3) | Infrared (Near-IR) | 1.1 µm | |
Hubble (WFC3) | Infrared (Near-IR) | 1.3 µm | |
Hubble (WFC3) | Infrared (Near-IR) | 1.6 µm | |
Detailed color mapping information coming soon...
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