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Gravitational Lens Arcs in Galaxy Cluster Abell 1689

Gravitational Lens Arcs in Galaxy Cluster Abell 1689
A selection of cropped images from a NASA Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys view of one of the most massive galaxy clusters known, called Abell 1689. These close-ups show "lensed" images of background galaxies that have been brightened and smeared by the gravitational bending of light by the foreground cluster. The yellow-white objects are the cluster galaxies located 2.2 billion light-years away. The blue arcs are the distorted images of background galaxies located billions of light-years farther away than Abell 1689. The distribution of both "normal" and dark matter, and the alignment of the background galaxies determine the amount of distortion. In a perfectly aligned gravitational lens the background object would be smeared into an "Einstein ring." Instead, there are numerous ring sections or arcs corresponding to individual galaxies. Though the galaxy images are distorted, numerous structural details such as star clusters and dust lanes are magnified. These would not normally be resolved without the lensing effect of the foreground cluster. Red objects in the field may be nearby cool stars, or galaxies at great distances. Images of the same galaxies are also mirrored on either side of the cluster. These distortions yield clues to dark matter in space, and the curvature of the universe. They also beautifully demonstrate Einstein's theory of general relativity that predicted that gravity warps space. This representative color image is a composite of visible-light and near-infrared exposures taken in June 2002.

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    13h 11m 34.19s
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    -1° 21' 56.0"
  • Constellation
    ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
    Virgo
  • Distance
    DistanceThe 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.
    The distance to the lensing cluster is 2.2 billion light-years (675 megaparsecs).

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.
    Principal Astronomers / ACS science team: H.C. Ford (JHU), G.D. Illingworth (UCO/Lick Observatory), N. Benitez (JHU), M. Clampin (STScI), G.F. Hartig (STScI), D.R. Ardila (JHU), F. Bartko (Bartko Science & Technology), J.P. Blakeslee (JHU), R.J. Bouwens (UCO/Lick Obs.), T.J. Broadhurst (Racah Institute of Physics, The Hebrew University), R.A. Brown (STScI), C.J. Burrows (STScI), E.S. Cheng (NASA-GSFC), N.J.G. Cross (JHU), P.D. Feldman (JHU), M. Franx (Leiden Observatory), D.A.Golimowski (JHU), C. Gronwall (PSU), L. Infante (Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile), R.A. Kimble (NASA GSFC), J.E. Krist (STScI), M.P. Lesser (Steward Obs.), A.R. Martel (JHU), F. Menanteau (JHU), G.R. Meurer (JHU), G.K. Miley (Leiden Obs.), M. Postman (STScI), P. Rosati (ESO), M. Sirianni (JHU), W.B. Sparks (STScI), H.D. Tran (JHU), Z.I. Tsvetanov (JHU), R.L. White (STScI/JHU), and W. Zheng (JHU)
  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    HST>ACS/WFC
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    June, 2002, Exposure Time: 13.2 hours
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    F475W (g), F625W (r), F775W (i), F850LP (z)
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    Abell 1689
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Galaxy Cluster, Gravitational Lens
  • Release Date
    January 7, 2003
  • Science Release
    Biggest ‘Zoom Lens’ in Space Takes Hubble Deeper into the Universe
    Read the release
  • Credit
    NASA, N. Benitez (JHU), T. Broadhurst (Racah Institute of Physics/The Hebrew University), H. Ford (JHU), M. Clampin (STScI), G. Hartig (STScI), G. Illingworth (UCO/Lick Observatory), the ACS Science Team and ESA; The members of the ACS science team are: H.C. Ford (JHU), G.D. Illingworth (UCO/Lick Observatory), N. Benitez (JHU), M. Clampin (STScI), G.F. Hartig (STScI), D.R. Ardila (JHU), F. Bartko (Bartko Science & Technology), J.P. Blakeslee (JHU), R.J. Bouwens (UCO/Lick Observatory), T.J. Broadhurst (Racah Institute of Physics, The Hebrew University), R.A. Brown (STScI), C.J. Burrows (STScI), E.S. Cheng (NASA-GSFC), N.J.G. Cross (JHU), P.D. Feldman (JHU), M. Franx (Leiden Observatory), D.A. Golimowski (JHU), C. Gronwall (Pennsylvania State University), L. Infante (Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile), R.A. Kimble (NASA-GSFC), J.E. Krist (STScI), M.P. Lesser (Steward Observatory), A.R. Martel (JHU), F. Menanteau (JHU), G.R. Meurer (JHU), G.K. Miley (Leiden Observatory), M. Postman (STScI), P. Rosati (European Southern Observatory), M. Sirianni (JHU), W.B. Sparks (STScI), H.D. Tran (JHU), Z.I. Tsvetanov (JHU), R.L. White (STScI/JHU), and W. Zheng (JHU)

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Last Updated
Mar 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

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