The Hubble Telescope captured an image of an enormous galaxy cluster which appears to be smiling at its galactic neighbors.
SpaceTelescope.org elaborates:
“In the case of this ‘happy face’, the two eyes are very bright
galaxies and the misleading smile lines are actually arcs caused by an
effect known as strong gravitational lensing.
Galaxy clusters are the most massive structures in the Universe and
exert such a powerful gravitational pull that they warp the spacetime
around them and act as cosmic lenses which can magnify, distort and bend
the light behind them.”
The smirking smile and the contours of the face are caused by that
warping and bending of light around the cluster. The effect is also
known as “Einstein ring.”
Artist Judy Schmidt first brought the smile’s attention to NASA and
the European Space Agency after she sifted through Hubble’s science
archives and sent the image into “Hubble’s Hidden Treasures” contest. NASA released the image Monday.
Source Article from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AscensionEarth2012/~3/s8cERu7Ragc/hubble-telescope-spots-gigantic-smile.html
Hubble Telescope spots a gigantic 'smile' in deep space
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