Distant Galaxy Cluster MACSJ0717.5+3745 in Auriga | Hubble Space Telescope

Distant Galaxy Cluster MACSJ0717.5+3745 in Auriga | Hubble Space Telescope

This image from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope shows the galaxy cluster MACSJ0717.5+3745. This was one of six studied by the Hubble Frontier Fields program that together have produced one of the deepest images of gravitational lensing made to date.

MACS J0717 is located about 5.4 billion light-years away from Earth, in the constellation of Auriga (The Charioteer). It is one of the most complex galaxy clusters known; rather than being a single cluster, it is actually the result of four galaxy clusters colliding.

Due to the huge mass of the cluster it is bending the light of background objects, acting as a magnifying lens. It is one of the most massive galaxy clusters known, and it is also the largest known gravitational lens. Of all of the galaxy clusters known and measured, MACS J0717 lenses the largest area of the sky.

Credit: NASA, ESA and the HST Frontier Fields team (STScI)
Release Date: Oct. 22, 2015

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