Hubble snaps a cosmic leviathan almost nine billion light-years away from Earth

In the center of this image captured by the Hubble Space Telescope lies a vast galaxy cluster. Just as a submerged sea monster causes waves and disturbances on the surface, the gravitational influence of this galaxy cluster creates observable distortions in the surrounding spacetime.

The immense mass of the cluster has caused the light from background galaxies to be bent and distorted as it passes through the gravitational field. This phenomenon, known as gravitational lensing, results in the appearance of streaks and arcs of light from the background galaxies. A host of other galaxies around the cluster and foreground stars with tell-tale diffraction spikes are scattered throughout the image.

Located about nine billion light-years away in the constellation Draco, this specific galaxy cluster goes by the name eMACS J1823.1+7822. It is one of five remarkably massive galaxy clusters that have been extensively examined by the Hubble Space Telescope to determine the gravitational lensing strengths they possess and gain insights into the distribution of dark matter within galaxy clusters.

Notably, eMACS J1823.1+7822 and similar strong gravitational lenses serve as vast natural telescopes, enabling astronomers to observe and scrutinize remote galaxies that would otherwise remain too faint or distant to be resolved.

🐲💫 Our ESA/Hubble Picture of the Week features a cosmic leviathan almost nine billion light-years away, in the constellation Draco. Read about it here: https://t.co/LfLs9IT6DX and 🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/tpluuzWG2s

— HUBBLE (@HUBBLE_space) May 8, 2023

The above picture was captured using the Advanced Camera for Surveys and the Wide Field Camera 3 - two powerful instruments aboard the Hubble telescope that have contributed significantly to our understanding of the universe.

ACS is designed to capture sharp and detailed images across a wide range of wavelengths, from ultraviolet to near-infrared, while WFC3 operates in both the ultraviolet and infrared parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.