1 min read

Ghost Light Galaxy Clusters

Two side-by-side images showing dozens of galaxies of different colors, shapes, and sizes. At the center of each image is a cluster of galaxies within a ghostly blue light.

These are Hubble Space Telescope images of two massive clusters of galaxies named MOO J1014+0038 (left panel) and SPT-CL J2106-5844 (right panel). The artificially added blue color is translated from Hubble data that captured a phenomenon called intracluster light. This extremely faint glow traces a smooth distribution of light from wandering stars scattered across the cluster. Billions of years ago the stars were shed from their parent galaxies and now drift through intergalactic space.

About the Data

Data Description
Data DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.
These images were created from HST data from proposals: 12477 (F. High); 13677 (S. Perlmutter); 14327 (S. Perlmutter); 15883 (T. Schrabback).
Instrument
InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
HST>WFC3/UVIS; HST>WFC3/IR
Exposure Dates
Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
Oct 2011 - Nov 2019
Filters
FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
F606W, F814W, F105W, F160W

Object Name
Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
MOO J1014+0038; SPT-CL J2106-5844
Object Description
Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
Intracluster Light Among Galaxy Clusters
Release Date
January 4, 2023
Science Release
Hubble Finds that Ghost Light Among Galaxies Stretches Far Back in Time
Read the release
Credits
NASA, ESA, STScI, James Jee (Yonsei University); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

Downloads

Full Res (For Display), 4228 × 2114
png (15.43 MB)
Full Res (For Print), 4228 × 2114
tif (19.55 MB)
2000 × 1000
png (3.52 MB)
Unannotated Full Res (For Display), 4228 × 2114
png (15.57 MB)
Unannotated Full Res (For Print), 4228 × 2114
tif (16.8 MB)
Unannotated, 2000 × 1000
png (3.52 MB)

These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the Hubble Space Telescope using the WFC3/UVIS and WFC3/IR instruments. Several filters were used to sample infrared, and visible wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: MOO J1014+0038: Red: F160W Green: F105W, Blue: F814W SPT-CL J2106+5844: Red: F105W, Green: F814W, Blue: F606W

Related Images & Videos