The geometry of MACS J0717

This diagram shows Hubble’s image of MACS J0717 overlaid with the location of the cluster and filament’s mass (in blue), and with a schematic of the cluster and filament (in white). Below, the diagram shows the geometry from our perspective in which the filament lies almost directly along our line of sight, and from a different perspective in which the filament is seen side-on. This shows how the filament appears greatly foreshortened from our perspective.