ZwCl 1358+62: ZwCl 1358+62 is located 3.7 billion light-years from Earth (z=0.33) and is made up of at least 150 individual galaxies. This image depicts multiple blue, red and orange arcs scattered across the image, which represent amplified and stretched images of the galaxies behind the cluster's core. The colours displayed by the various lensed galaxies vary according to their distance and galaxy types. The natural gravitational lensing effect in combination with Hubble's potent mirrors provide astronomers with a powerful set of tools to gather information on the nature of distant galaxies and the workings of the "hidden" world around us.

Name: ZwCl 1358+62
Type: Early Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : Cluster
Category: Star Clusters
Constellation: Draco
Distance: z=0.33 (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 2390: Located 2.7 billion light-years from the Earth (redshift 0.23), Abell 2390 is located in the constellation Pegasus. The large arcs seen around the central cluster are distortions of other objects located behind Abell 2390, the light from which is bent and magnified as it passes by the galaxy cluster. When a massive galaxy cluster acts as a lens, like in these new Hubble images, arcs and arclets of light are formed. The images come in different sizes and shapes depending on how distant they are from us and each other and how close the source light passes by the galaxy cluster itself. The extent to which the image is distorted and the number of copies of the background object created depend on the alignment between the galaxy cluster and the distant body.

Name: Abell 2390
Type: Early Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : Cluster
Category: Cosmology
Constellation: Pegasus
Distance: z=0.23 (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 2218_z1 in detail: The central 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. The pictures along the right edge show one of the galaxies viewed at approximately redshift 7.5 with the help of the gravitational lens. The galaxy cannot be seen in the top image, which was taken in the visual range by ACS. In the middle image, taken in the near-infrared by ACS, the galaxy becomes barely visible in the circled region. The galaxy finally becomes fully visible in the bottom image, which is taken by NICMOS in the infrared. The galaxy is visible in the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum rather than the visible part because during the 13 billion years the light spent travelling to Earth, the Universe has expanded enough to broaden the wavelength from the visible into the near-infrared.

Name: Abell 2218
Type: Early Universe : Galaxy : Type : Gravitationally LensedEarly Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : Cluster
Category: Galaxies
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)

Searching for star clusters: These images taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope show four members of the Virgo cluster of galaxies, the nearest large galaxy cluster to Earth. They are part of a survey of globular star clusters in 100 of Virgo's galaxies. Globular clusters, dense bunches of hundreds of thousands of stars, have some of the oldest surviving stars in the universe. Most of the star clusters in the Virgo survey are older than 5 billion years. The Hubble study found evidence that these hardy pioneers are more likely to form in dense areas, where star birth occurs at a rapid rate, instead of uniformly from galaxy to galaxy. Hubble's "eye" is so sharp that it was able to pick out the fuzzy globular clusters, which, at that distance, look like individual stars bunched up around the galaxies, instead of groupings of stars. Comprised of over 2,000 galaxies, the Virgo cluster is located about 54 million light-years away. Astronomers made these composite images from the advanced camera's full field-of-view observations. They also used modeling data to fill in a narrow gap between the camera's detectors. The images were taken from December 2002 to December 2003.

Name: IC 3506, NGC 4458, NGC 4660, VCC 1993
Type: Local Universe : Star : Grouping : Cluster : GlobularLocal Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : Cluster
Category: Star Clusters
Distance: 55 million light years
Release date: 5 August 2008, 15:00
Credit: ESA, NASA and E. Peng (Peking University, Beijing)

NGC 4660 in the Virgo cluster of galaxies: Virgo cluster galaxy NGC 4660, na elliptical located about 50 million light-years from Earth. Hubble's "eye" is so sharp that it was able to pick out the fuzzy globular clusters, which, at that distance, look like individual stars bunched up around the galaxies, instead of groupings of stars.

Name: NGC 4660
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Elliptical
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Virgo
Distance: 50 million light years
Release date: 5 August 2008, 15:00
Credit: ESA, NASA and E. Peng (Peking University, Beijing)

NGC 4458 in the Virgo cluster of galaxies: Virgo cluster galaxy NGC 4458. Hubble's "eye" is so sharp that it was able to pick out the fuzzy globular clusters, which, at that distance, look like individual stars bunched up around the galaxies, instead of groupings of stars.

Name: NGC 4458
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Elliptical
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Virgo
Distance: 55 million light years
Release date: 5 August 2008, 15:00
Credit: ESA, NASA and E. Peng (Peking University, Beijing)

IC 3506 in the Virgo cluster of galaxies: Virgo cluster galaxy IC 3506. Hubble's "eye" is so sharp that it was able to pick out the fuzzy globular clusters, which, at that distance, look like individual stars bunched up around the galaxies, instead of groupings of stars.

Name: IC 3506
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Elliptical
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Virgo
Distance: 55 million light years
Release date: 5 August 2008, 15:00
Credit: ESA, NASA and E. Peng (Peking University, Beijing)

VCC 1993 in the Virgo cluster of galaxies: Virgo cluster galaxy VCC 1993. Hubble's "eye" is so sharp that it was able to pick out the fuzzy globular clusters, which, at that distance, look like individual stars bunched up around the galaxies, instead of groupings of stars.

Name: VCC 1993
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Elliptical
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Virgo
Distance: 55 million light years
Release date: 5 August 2008, 15:00
Credit: ESA, NASA and E. Peng (Peking University, Beijing)