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Hubble Frontier Field Abell 2744

Galaxy cluster Abell 2744. Many yellow and white galaxies appear across this black swath of space, with the largest appearing toward the center. Small, thin blue-white lines and tiny red points of light are peppered across the image.

This long-exposure Hubble Space Telescope image of massive galaxy cluster Abell 2744 shows some of the faintest and youngest galaxies ever detected in space. Abell 2744, located in the constellation Sculptor, appears in the foreground of this image. It contains several hundred galaxies as they looked 3.5 billion years ago. The immense gravity in Abell 2744 acts as a gravitational lens to warp space and brighten and magnify images of nearly 3,000 distant background galaxies. The more distant galaxies appear as they did longer than 12 billion years ago, not long after the big bang. 

New research shows that the James Webb Space Telescope could potentially detect the first stars and black holes in the universe, if they are gravitationally lensed by a cluster like Abell 2744. A very precise alignment of the cluster and background star would be needed, so Webb would need to observe a number of clusters repeatedly for the best chance of success.

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    00h 14m 19.5s
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    -30° 23' 19.18"
  • Constellation
    ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
    Sculptor
  • 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.
    Redshift: z=0.308

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.
    Data were obtained as part of the HST proposals 11689 (R. Dupke), 13386 (S. Rodney), and 13495 (J. Lotz).
  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    HST>ACS/WFC and HST>WFC3/IR
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    October 2009; August - November 2013 Exposure Time: 67 hours
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    ACS/WFC: F435W (B), F606W (V), F814W (I) WFC3/IR: F105W (Y), F125W (J), F140W (JH), F160W (H)
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    Abell 2744, Pandora's Cluster
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Galaxy Cluster and Gravitational Lens
  • Release Date
    April 25, 2018
  • Science Release
    NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Could Potentially Detect the First Stars and Black Holes
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Image: NASA, ESA, HFF Team, Jennifer Lotz (STScI), Matt Mountain (STScI), Anton Koekemoer (STScI)

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Galaxy cluster Abell 2744. Many yellow and white galaxies appear across this black swath of space, with the largest appearing toward the center. Small, thin blue-white lines and tiny red points of light are peppered across the image.
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.

This image is a composite of separate exposures acquired by the ACS and WFC3 instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope. Several filters were used to sample broad 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: Blue: F435W (B) + F606W (V) Green: F814W (I) + F105W (Y) Red: F125W (J) + F140W (JH) + F160W (H)

Compass and Scale
Compass and ScaleAn astronomical image with a scale that shows how large an object is on the sky, a compass that shows how the object is oriented on the sky, and the filters with which the image was made.

Related Images & Videos

This ray diagram, which traces the path that light takes, illustrates how light from a distant galaxy or star can be bent by the gravity of an intervening galaxy cluster.

Gravitational Lensing Diagram

This diagram illustrates how rays of light from a distant galaxy or star can be bent by the gravity of an intervening galaxy cluster. As a result, an observer on Earth sees the distant object appear brighter than it would look if it weren't gravitationally lensed.

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Details

Last Updated
Aug 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Laura Betz
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
laura.e.betz@nasa.gov

Image Credit

NASA, ESA, HFF Team, Jennifer Lotz (STScI), Matt Mountain (STScI), Anton Koekemoer (STScI)

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