New Hubble view of galaxy cluster Abell 1689
This new Hubble image shows galaxy cluster Abell 1689. It combines both visible and infrared data from Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) with a combined exposure time of over 34 hours (image on left over 13 hours, image on right over 20 hours) to reveal this patch of sky in greater and striking detail than in previous observations.
This image is peppered with glowing golden clumps, bright stars, and distant, ethereal spiral galaxies. Material from some of these galaxies is being stripped away, giving the impression that the galaxy is dripping, or bleeding, into the surrounding space. Also visible are a number of electric blue streaks, circling and arcing around the fuzzy galaxies in the centre.
These streaks are the telltale signs of a cosmic phenomenon known as gravitational lensing. Abell 1689 is so massive that it bends and warps the space around it, affecting how light from objects behind the cluster travels through space. These streaks are the distorted forms of galaxies that lie behind the cluster.
Credit:NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), J. Blakeslee (NRC Herzberg Astrophysics Program, Dominion Astrophysical Observatory), and H. Ford (JHU)
About the Image
Id: | heic1317a |
Type: | Observation |
Release date: | 12 September 2013, 17:00 |
Related releases: | heic1317 |
Size: | 4002 x 3863 px |
About the Object
Name: | Abell 1689, Virgo Cluster |
Type: | Early Universe : Galaxy : Type : Gravitationally Lensed Early Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : Cluster |
Distance: | 2 billion light years |
Constellation: | Virgo |
Category: | Cosmology |
Image Formats
Coordinates
Position (RA): | 13 11 29.78 |
Position (Dec): | -1° 20' 28.02" |
Field of view: | 3.33 x 3.22 arcminutes |
Orientation: | North is 25.0° right of vertical |
Colours & filters
Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
---|---|---|
Optical B | 475 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |
Optical R | 625 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |
Infrared i | 775 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |
Infrared I | 814 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |
Infrared 850 |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |