A spacetime magnifying glass

Esahubble_potw1319a_1024

esahubble_potw1319a May 13th, 2013

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA. Acknowledgement: N. Rose

This Hubble image shows the galaxy cluster Abell S1077. Galaxy clusters are large groupings of galaxies, each of them including millions of stars. They are the largest existing structures in the Universe to be held together by their gravity. The amount of matter condensed in such groupings is so high that their gravity is enough to warp the fabric of spacetime, distorting the path that light takes when it travels through the cluster. In some cases, this phenomenon produces an effect somewhat like a magnifying lens, allowing us to see objects that are aligned behind the cluster and which would otherwise be undetectable from Earth. In this image, you see stretched stripes that look like scratches on a lens but are, in fact, galaxies whose light is heavily distorted by the gravitational field of the cluster. Astronomers use tools like the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and the effects of gravitational lensing to peer far back in time and space to see the furthest objects located in the early Universe. One of the record holders is MACS0647-JD, a galaxy seen by Hubble and the Spitzer Space Telescope with the help of a gravitational lens much like this one in the galaxy cluster MACS J0647.7+7015. Its light has taken 13.3 billion years to reach us. This image is based in part on data spotted by Nick Rose in the Hubbles Hidden Treasures image processing competition.

Provider: Hubble Space Telescope | ESA

Image Source: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1319a/

Curator: ESA/Hubble, Garching bei München, Germany

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Abell S1077
Subject - Distant Universe
Star > Grouping > Cluster
Esahubble_potw1319a_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 22h 58m 48.2s
DEC = -34° 48’ 6.6”
Orientation
North is 107.6° CCW
Field of View
2.3 x 2.0 arcminutes
Constellation
Piscis Austrinus

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue Hubble (ACS) Infrared (z) 850.0 nm
Blue Hubble (ACS) Infrared (I) 814.0 nm
Red Hubble (WFC3) Infrared (H) 1.6 µm
Green Hubble (WFC3) Infrared (J) 1.1 µm
Spectrum_base
Blue
Blue
Red
Green
Esahubble_potw1319a_1280
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ID
potw1319a
Subject Category
D.3.6.4  
Subject Name
Abell S1077
Credits
ESA/Hubble & NASA. Acknowledgement: N. Rose
Release Date
2013-05-13T10:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1319a/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
from NED
Facility
Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope
Instrument
ACS, ACS, WFC3, WFC3
Color Assignment
Blue, Blue, Red, Green
Band
Infrared, Infrared, Infrared, Infrared
Bandpass
z, I, H, J
Central Wavelength
850, 814, 1600, 1100
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
344.700696798, -34.8018378407
Reference Dimension
2729.0, 2425.0
Reference Pixel
1364.0, 1212.0
Scale
-1.38535029184e-05, 1.38535029184e-05
Rotation
107.60000000000004
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
ESA/Hubble
URL
http://www.spacetelescope.org/
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2
City
Garching bei München
State/Province
Postal Code
D-85748
Country
Germany
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Publisher
ESA/Hubble
Publisher ID
esahubble
Resource ID
potw1319a
Metadata Date
2013-02-14T13:00:13+01:00
Metadata Version
1.1
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

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