NASA Hubble Space Telescope releases image of MACS0329-0211 gravitational lens
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope just dropped an amazing new photo of MACS0329-0211, a massive galaxy cluster that's basically one of the universe's biggest "magnifying glasses."
Thanks to its gravity, this cluster bends and boosts light from galaxies even farther away, a trick called gravitational lensing, which helps scientists learn how huge cosmic structures grow and change.
Hubble images reveal unseen matter clues
Hubble's shot reveals all kinds of galaxies—bright ellipticals, spirals with cool arms, and more.
You can spot faint arcs and curves in the background; those are actually far-off galaxies whose light got warped by the cluster's gravity.
The detailed view comes from Hubble using both visible and infrared cameras, giving astronomers fresh clues about where matter that cannot be observed directly is hiding in this part of space.