The heart of a vast cluster of galaxies called RXJ1532.9+3021 is shown in this image, taken in visible and near-infrared light by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.
The galaxy cluster is so massive that its gravity distorts, brightens, and magnifies light from more-distant objects behind it, an effect called gravitational lensing. The small white box at upper right marks the location of an exploding star called a supernova, located far behind the cluster.
An enlarged view of the supernova, nicknamed Didius after the second century Roman emperor Didius Julianus, is shown in the inset image at top right, taken on March 16, 2012. The supernova is the white dot in the center of the image. The bright blob at upper left is the core of the host galaxy. The supernova is seen as it appeared 7 billion years ago.
The inset image at top left, taken in February 2012, shows the same region before the supernova blast. This image underscores the transient nature of exploding stars. The supernova is a member of a special group of exploding stars called Type Ia, prized by astronomers because they provide a consistent level of peak brightness that makes them reliable for making distance estimates.
Both inset images were taken in visible light with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys.
Finding a gravitationally lensed Type Ia supernova gives astronomers a unique opportunity to check the optical "prescription" of the foreground lensing cluster. The supernova is one of three exploding stars discovered in the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH), and was followed up as part of a Supernova Cosmology Project HST program. CLASH is a Hubble census that probed the distribution of dark matter in 25 galaxy clusters. Dark matter cannot be seen directly but is believed to make up most of the universe's matter.
The image of the galaxy cluster was taken between February and April 2012 by Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys.
Credits
NASA, ESA, C. McCully (Rutgers University), A. Koekemoer (STScI), M. Postman (STScI), A. Riess (STScI/JHU), S. Perlmutter (UC Berkeley, LBNL), J. Nordin (LBNL, UC Berkeley), and D. Rubin (Florida State University)| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | RXJ1532.9+3021 and Supernova Didius |
| Object Description | Galaxy Cluster and Gravitationally Lensed Supernovae |
| R.A. Position | 15h 32m 53.79s |
| Dec. Position | 30° 20' 57.98" |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The image was created from Hubble data from proposal 12454 (PI: M. Postman, STScI) |
| Instrument | HST>ACS/WFC and HST>WFC3/IR |
| Exposure Dates | February - April, 2012 |
| Filters | Galaxy cluster image: ACS/WFC: F435W, F475W, F606W, F625W, F775W, F814W, and F850W WFC3/IR: F105W, F110W, F125W, F140W, and F160W February 2012 inset image: ACS/WFC: F850LP March 2012 inset image: ACS/WFC: F850LP |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | Galaxy cluster image: Blue: F435W + F475W + F606W + F625W Green: F775W + F814W + F850W Red: F105W + F110W + F125W + F140W + F160W |
| 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. |
