Coma Galaxy Cluster (Detail 3): Lenticular galaxy in the Coma Cluster with numerous background galaxies.

Name: Abell 1656
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : LenticularLocal Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : Cluster
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Coma Berenices
Distance: 300 million light years
Release date: 10 June 2008, 15:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA). Acknowledgment: D. Carter (Liverpool John Moores University) and the Coma HST ACS Treasury Team.

Wide-field view of the Coma Galaxy Cluster (DSS2 excerpt, ground-based image): A wide star field image of the region around the Coma Cluster (Abell 1656). The field-of-view is approximately 2.7 x 2.85 degrees.

Name: Abell 1656
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : Cluster
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Coma Berenices
Distance: 300 million light years
Release date: 10 June 2008, 15:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Digitized Sky Survey 2. Acknowledgment: Davide De Martin (ESA/Hubble)

Coma Cluster wide-field (ground-based image): In this ground-based image the constellation Coma Berenices is on the lower left.

Name: Abell 1656, Coma Berenices
Type: Milky Way : Sky Phenomenon : Night Sky : Constellation
Category: Stars
Release date: 10 June 2008, 15:00
Credit: A. Fujii

Abell 2218: The picture shows Abell 2218, a rich galaxy cluster composed of thousands of individual galaxies. It sits about 2.1 billion light-years from the Earth (redshift 0.17) in the northern constellation of Draco. When used by astronomers as a powerful gravitational lens to magnify distant galaxies, the cluster allows them to peer far into the Universe. However, it not only magnifies the images of hidden galaxies, but also distorts them into long, thin arcs. Several arcs in the image can be studied in detail thanks to Hubble's sharp vision. Multiple distorted images of the same galaxies can be identified by comparing the shape of the galaxies and their colour. In addition to the giant arcs, many smaller arclets have been identified.

Name: Abell 2218
Type: Early Universe : Galaxy : Type : Gravitationally LensedEarly Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : Cluster
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Draco
Distance: z=0.17 (redshift)
Release date: 24 July 2008, 17:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, and Johan Richard (Caltech, USA)Acknowledgement: Davide de Martin & James Long (ESA/Hubble)

Abell 1703: Located in the northern celestial hemisphere, Abell 1703 is composed of over one hundred different galaxies that act as a powerful cosmic telescope, or gravitational lens. The gravitational lens produced by the massive galaxy cluster in the foreground (the yellow mostly elliptical galaxies scattered across the image) bends the light rays in a way that can stretch the images and so amplify the brightness of the light rays from more distant galaxies. In the process it distorts their shapes and produces multiple banana-shaped images of the original galaxies. The result is the stunning image seen here - a view deeper into the Universe than possible with current technology alone. Abell 1703 is located at 3 billion light-years from the Earth (redshift 0.26).

Name: Abell 1703
Type: Early Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : Cluster
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Canes Venatici
Distance: z=0.26 (redshift)
Release date: 24 July 2008, 17:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, and Johan Richard (Caltech, USA)Acknowledgement: Davide de Martin & James Long (ESA/Hubble)