The heart of a vast cluster of galaxies called Abell 383 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 left marks the location of an exploding star called a supernova, located behind the cluster.
An enlarged view of the supernova, nicknamed Tiberius after the first century Roman emperor, is shown in the inset image at top right, taken on Jan. 18, 2011. The arrow pinpoints the supernova's location. The bright material beneath it is part of the host galaxy. The supernova is seen as it appeared 8 billion years ago.
The inset image at top left, taken in November 2010, shows the same region before the supernova blast. This image underscores the transient nature of exploding stars.
Both inset images were taken in visible light with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys.
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 November 2010 and February 2011 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 (NBNL, UC Berkeley), and D. Rubin (Florida State University)| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | Abell 383, Supernova Tiberius |
| Object Description | Galaxy Cluster and Gravitationally Lensed Supernovae |
| R.A. Position | 02h 48m 1.99s |
| Dec. Position | -3° 32' 15.0" |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The image was created from Hubble data from proposal (PI: M. Postman, STScI) |
| Instrument | HST>ACS/WFC and HST>WFC3/IR |
| Exposure Dates | November 2010 - February 2011 |
| Filters | Galaxy cluster image: ACS/WFC: F435W, F475W, F606W, F625W, F775W, F814W, and F850W WFC3/IR: F105W, F110W, F125W, F140W, and F160W November 2010 inset image: ACS/WFC: F814W January 2011 inset image: ACS/WFC: F814W |
| 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. |
