                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2023 September 12

                     Galaxy Cluster Abell 370 and Beyond
       Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Jennifer Lotz and the HFF Team (STScI)

   Explanation: Some 4 billion light-years away, massive galaxy cluster
   Abell 370 is captured in this sharp Hubble Space Telescope snapshot.
   The cluster of galaxies only appears to be dominated by two giant
   elliptical galaxies and infested with faint arcs. In reality, the
   fainter, scattered bluish arcs, along with the dramatic dragon arc
   below and left of center, are images of galaxies that lie far beyond
   Abell 370. About twice as distant, their otherwise undetected light is
   magnified and distorted by the cluster's enormous gravitational mass,
   overwhelmingly dominated by unseen dark matter. Providing a tantalizing
   glimpse of galaxies in the early universe, the effect is known as
   gravitational lensing. A consequence of warped spacetime, lensing was
   predicted by Einstein almost a century ago. Far beyond the spiky
   foreground Milky Way star at lower right, Abell 370 is seen toward the
   constellation Cetus, the Sea Monster. It was the last of six galaxy
   clusters imaged in the Frontier Fields project.

                      Tomorrow's picture: partly hidden
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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