Galaxy Cluster Abell 68

Abell 68, pictured here in infrared light, is a cluster of galaxies. Such clusters can distort and magnify the light behind them, making more-distant galaxies visible in an effect called "gravitational lensing." The effect boosts Hubble’s power, greatly increasing’the telescope's ability to observe distant and faint objects. The fuzzy collection of blobs in the middle and upper left of the image is a swarm of galaxies, each with hundreds of billions of stars and vast amounts of dark matter. Distorted shapes visible throughout the field of view are distant galaxies whose light has been bent and amplified by the cluster. One such distortion, visible in the upper left, looks something like an alien invader from a 1980s video game.