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Abell 68 (Annotated)
The gravitational field surrounding this massive cluster of galaxies, Abell 68, acts as a natural lens in space to brighten and magnify the light coming from very distant background galaxies. Like a fun-house mirror, lensing creates a fantasy landscape of arc-like images and mirror images of background galaxies. The foreground cluster is 2 billion light-years away, and the lensed images come from galaxies far behind it.
Annotations:
1 and 2: This galaxy is visible twice, because its light has followed two separate paths around an elliptical galaxy before reaching us. The image marked 2 is heavily distorted into what looks like the shape of a simulated alien from the 1970s video game Space Invaders.
3: This galaxy appears to have purple liquid dripping from it. The "droplets" are gas clouds within the galaxy that are being stripped out and heated up as the galaxy passes through a region of denser intergalactic gas. This phenomenon is called ram-pressure stripping.
4: The series of long, light streaks here are background galaxies, the images of which have been heavily distorted by the lensing effects of the cluster in the foreground.
About the Object
- R.A. PositionR.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.00h 36m 59.4s
- Dec. PositionDec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.09° 8' 30.05"
- ConstellationConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.Vulpecula
- DistanceDistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.2.1 billion light-years (644 million parsecs)
About the Data
- Data DescriptionData 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.The image was created from Hubble data from proposal 11591: J.P. Kneib (Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille) and collaborators. - InstrumentInstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.HST>ACS/WFC and HST>WFC3/IR
- Exposure DatesExposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.October 18, 2010 and November 14, 2010
- FiltersFiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.WFC3/UVIS: F814W (I) WFC3/IR: F110W (YJ) and F160W (H)
- Object NameObject NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.Abell 68
- Object DescriptionObject DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.Galaxy Cluster
- Release DateMarch 5, 2013
- Science ReleaseGravitational Lens Creates Cartoon of Space Invader
- Credits
This image is a composite of separate exposures acquired by the ACS and WFC3 instruments. Several filters were used to sample various wavelengths. 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: Blue: F814W (I) Green: F110W (YJ) Red: F160W (H)
Related Images & Videos
Gravitational Lens Creates Cartoon of Space Invader
The gravitational field surrounding this massive cluster of galaxies, Abell 68, acts as a natural lens in space to brighten and magnify the light coming from very distant background galaxies. Like a funhouse mirror, lensing creates a fantasy landscape of arc-like images and...
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Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
