A galaxy cluster "smiles" at the Hubble Telescope. Photo: NASA/ESA


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.