By ESA/Hubble
February 20, 2023
Hubble Space Telescope features a massive galaxy cluster called SPT-CL J0019-2026 in the constellation Cetus that is distorted by gravitational lensing. Credit: ESA/Hubble & & NASA, H. Ebeling
This image from the Hubble Space Telescope is occupied with a peaceful collection of elliptical and spiral galaxies, with the center controlled by a massive galaxy cluster in the constellation Cetus. The galaxies surrounding the main cluster– which is named SPT-CL J0019-2026– appear extended into bright arcs, as if misshaped by an enormous magnifying glass.
This observation belongs to an ongoing task to fill short spaces in Hubbles observing schedule by systematically checking out the most massive galaxy clusters in the remote Universe, in the hopes of identifying appealing targets for further study with both Hubble and the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. This specific galaxy cluster lies at a huge distance of 4.6 billion light-years from Earth.
Each year, the Space Telescope Science Institute is flooded with observing proposals for Hubble, in which astronomers suggest targets for observation. Even after selecting just the absolute best proposals, scheduling observations of all of Hubbles targets for a year is a powerful task. There is sometimes a little portion of observing time left unused in Hubbles schedule, so in its spare time the telescope has a collection of challenge explore– including the lensing galaxy cluster revealed in this image.