(click on image to enlarge)
From NASA/ ESA, September 13, 2018: The galaxy cluster Abell 370 was the first target of the BUFFALO survey, which aims to search for some of the first galaxies in the Universe.
This remarkable cluster in the constellation of Cetus is located approximately four billion light-years away. Its mass, consisting of both hundreds of galaxies and dark matter, bends and distorts the light coming from even more distant objects behind it. This effect is known as strong gravitational lensing.
The most stunning demonstration of gravitational lensing can be seen just below the centre of the image. Nicknamed “the Dragon”, this extended feature is made up of a multitude of duplicated images of a spiral galaxy in the background of Abell 370 — all lying five billion light-years away.
Credit: NASA, ESA, A. Koekemoer, M. Jauzac, C. Steinhardt, and the BUFFALO team
