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Look closely at this image from NASA\u2019s Hubble Space Telescope<\/a> and you\u2019ll see galaxies of various shapes and sizes clustered together toward the center-left of the image. A few foreground stars shine brightly and are easily distinguished by the spikes that appear to extend outward from each star. These spikes, called diffraction spikes<\/a>, are the result of how point sources of light (such as stars) bend, or diffract, around the supports for Hubble\u2019s secondary mirror.<\/p>\n Hubble captured this scene of MACS J1141.6-1905 in visible and infrared light. The image includes data from two Hubble observing programs that looked at massive galaxy clusters that shine very brightly in X-rays. Both programs were looking for distant galaxies gravitationally lensed by the cluster. They also wanted to better understand the physical nature of interactions at each cluster\u2019s core. An extra bonus was the addition of Hubble\u2019s visible and infrared observations of these very bright X-ray clusters to its archive.<\/p>\n Hubble\u2019s archive of 1.7 million observations, and counting, is a valuable tool for current and future astronomers. They can mine Hubble\u2019s 36 years of observations and examine the data with new tools, enabling researchers to make new discoveries.<\/p>\n MACS J1141.6-1905 is around four billion light-years away in the constellation Crater (the Cup).<\/p>\n Media Contact<\/span>:<\/strong><\/p>\n Claire Andreoli<\/strong>
NASA’s\u00a0<\/strong>Goddard Space Flight Center<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0Greenbelt, MD<\/strong>
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n