Four and a half billion light-years away in the constellation Virgo, scores of galaxies have been drawn together by the mutual gravitational pull. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has peered at this galaxy cluster and gravitational lens, known as MACS 1206. Gravity from the cluster's immense mass bends the space around it, causing the images of more distant galaxies directly behind the cluster (that are within our line of sight) to be warped and cast into arc-like smears of light. The orange streak to the right of the image center is one such example of an optically distorted galaxy that resides millions of light-years behind MACS 1206. The circular pattern of smaller galaxy pieces is more evidence of gravitational lensing.
The central object in the cluster is a giant elliptical galaxy plump with billions of old, reddish suns, surrounded by a thinner halo of stars. Disk-shaped spiral galaxies appear, both edge- and face-on, showing a defined structure of arms encircling their central bulges. The bluer galaxies have stars actively forming within them and, consequently, host groups of young blue stars that contribute to their overall hue. In contrast, red galaxies – especially those elliptical galaxies like the center one – are more stable in their behavior, with very few little recent star formation.
Credits
NASA, ESA, M. Postman (STScI), the CLASH Team, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | MACS J1206.2-0847, MACS 1206 |
| Object Description | Galaxy Cluster |
| R.A. Position | 12h 6m 11.97s |
| Dec. Position | -8° 48' 0.03" |
| Constellation | Virgo |
| Distance | 4.5 billion light-years (1.2 billion parsecs) |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | This image was created from HST data from proposal : M. Postman (STScI) et al. |
| Instrument | HST>ACS/WFC and HST>WFC3/IR |
| Exposure Dates | April - July 2011, Exposure Time: 19 hours |
| Filters | ACS/WFC: F606W (V), F625W (r), ACS/WFC F775W (i), F814W (I), and F850LP (z) WFC3/IR: F105W (Y), F110W (YJ), F125W (J), F140W (JH), and F160W (H) |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | This image is a composite of many separate exposures made by the ACS and WFC3 instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope using ten different filters. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic image. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: ACS/WFC F606W (V) + F625W (r) Green: ACS/WFC F775W (i) + F814W (I) + F850LP (z) Red: WFC3/IR F105W (Y) + F110W (YJ) + F125W (J) + F140W (JH) + F160W (H) |
| Compass Image |  |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
