Abell 1689
The gravity of the cluster's trillion stars acts as a cosmic "zoom lens", bending and magnifying the light of the galaxies located far behind it, a technique called gravitational lensing. The faraway galaxies appear in the Hubble image as arc-shaped objects around the cluster, named Abell 1689, seen in this image. The increased magnification allows astronomers to study remote galaxies in greater detail.
Credit:
NASA; ESA; L. Bradley (Johns Hopkins University); R. Bouwens (University of California, Santa Cruz); H. Ford (Johns Hopkins University); and G. Illingworth (University of California, Santa Cruz)
About the Image
NASA press release
| Id: | heic0805d |
| Type: | Observation |
| Release date: | 12 February 2008, 15:00 |
| Related releases: | heic0805 |
| Size: | 3853 x 4000 px |
About the Object
| Name: | Abell 1689 |
| Type: | • Early Universe : Galaxy : Type : Gravitationally Lensed • Early Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : Cluster |
| Distance: | z=0.183 (redshift) |
Colours & filters
| Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
| Optical B |
475 nm | Hubble Space Telescope ACS |
| Optical R |
625 nm | Hubble Space Telescope ACS |
| Infrared Z |
850 nm | Hubble Space Telescope ACS |
