NASA released a Hubble image of galaxy cluster MACS0329-0211 showing faint gravitationally lensed arcs in the upper-right quadrant and a bright, distorted figure-eight shape near the center.
The cluster’s immense gravity bends and magnifies light from more distant galaxies, making MACS0329-0211 a natural lens for viewing objects from the universe’s earliest stages.
Hubble observed the cluster under a program targeting X-ray-bright galaxy clusters, using the Advanced Camera for Surveys and Wide Field Camera 3 to collect visible and infrared data.
Those broad-spectrum observations help researchers study how massive galaxy clusters formed and how large-scale structure in the universe evolved.