NASA's Hubble Spots Rare Gravitational Arc from Distant, Hefty Galaxy Cluster (IMAGE)

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

NASA's Hubble Spots Rare Gravitational Arc from Distant, Hefty Galaxy Cluster

Caption

Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have found a puzzling arc of light behind an extremely massive cluster of galaxies residing 10 billion light-years away. The galactic grouping, discovered by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, was observed when the universe was roughly a quarter of its current age of 13.7 billion years. The giant arc is the stretched shape of a more distant galaxy whose light is distorted by the monster cluster's powerful gravity, an effect called gravitational lensing.

Credit

Credit: NASA, ESA, A. Gonzalez (University of Florida, Gainsville), M. Brodwin (University of Missouri-Kansas City), and A. Stanford (University of California at Davis)

Usage Restrictions

None

License

Licensed content

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.