Hubble image of galaxy cluster MACS J1206
This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the galaxy cluster MACS J1206. Galaxy clusters like these have enormous mass, and their gravity is powerful enough to visibly bend the path of light, somewhat like a magnifying glass.
These so-called lensing clusters are useful tools for studying very distant objects, because this lens-like behaviour amplifies the light from faraway galaxies in the background. They also contribute to a range of topics in cosmology, as the precise nature of the lensed images encapsulates information about the properties of spacetime and the expansion of the cosmos.
This is one of 25 clusters being studied as part of the CLASH (Cluster Lensing and Supernova survey with Hubble) programme, a major project to build a library of scientific data on lensing clusters.
Credit:
NASA, ESA, M. Postman (STScI) and the CLASH Team
About the Image
| Id: | heic1115a |
| Type: | Observation |
| Release date: | 13 October 2011, 15:00 |
| Related releases: | heic1115 |
| Size: | 2564 x 2328 px |
About the Object
| Name: | MACS J1206.2-0847 |
| Type: | • Early Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : Cluster • Cosmology Images/Videos |
| Distance: | 4 billion light years |
Colours & filters
| Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
| Optical V |
606 nm | Hubble Space Telescope ACS |
| Optical R |
625 nm | Hubble Space Telescope ACS |
| Infrared I |
775 nm | Hubble Space Telescope ACS |
| Infrared I |
814 nm | Hubble Space Telescope ACS |
| Infrared Z |
850 nm | Hubble Space Telescope ACS |
| Infrared near-IR |
1.05 μm | Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 |
| Infrared J |
1.1 μm | Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 |
| Infrared near-IR |
1.25 μm | Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 |
| Infrared near-IR |
1.4 μm | Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 |
| Infrared H |
1.6 μm | Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 |
