Across The Universe, Cont. (With Bonus Jupiter Pictures)

(click on images to enlarge)



From NASA/ ESA, December 20, 2018:  Abell S1063, a galaxy cluster, was observed by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope as part of the Frontier Fields programme. The huge mass of the cluster — containing both baryonic matter and dark matter — acts as cosmic magnification glass and deforms objects behind it. In the past astronomers used this gravitational lensing effect to calculate the distribution of dark matter in galaxy clusters.

A more accurate and faster way, however, is to study the intracluster light (visible in blue), which follows the distribution of dark matter.

Credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Montes (University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia)

BONUS:  NASA's Juno spacecraft has been orbiting Jupiter every 53 days since the summer of 2016. It's mission will continue until 2021, when it will either be extended or the spacecraft will be programmed to plunge into Jupiter.  In the meantime, we have some glorious pictures Juno's taken of the largest planet in the solar system, some of them color- enhanced by citizen scientists to bring out details in Jupiter's atmosphere. Vox has these and more, as well as explanations of these images, all of which are incredibly beautiful.

In true color:



Jupiter's south pole, with swirls of storms (enhanced):



Jupiter's southern hemisphere (enhanced):