Centaurus A halo annotated: This image shows the stunning elliptical galaxy Centaurus A. Recently, astronomers have used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to probe the outskirts of this galaxy to learn more about its dim halo of stars. Two of the areas probed with Hubble are shown here in the red squares, and in more detail in the insets. Other areas were probed even further away, beyond the field of view of this image. Hubble’s unique capabilities allowed astronomers to analyse the faint stars in the halo. The galaxy’s halo of stars has been found to reach much further than expected, extending across 4 degrees in the sky — equivalent to eight times the apparent width of the Moon, or almost twice the width of this image. This image is a composite of images from Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2), the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS).

Name: Centaurus A
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Elliptical
Category: Galaxies
Release date: 22 July 2014, 16:00
Credit: Image credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA, Digitized Sky Survey, MPG/ESO Acknowledgement: Davide de Martin

Area of Centaurus A halo probed by Hubble: This image shows one of the areas of Centaurus A's halo probed by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys. Hubble's unique capabilities allowed astronomers to analyse the faint stars in the halo, which can be seen in this image along with the brighter foreground stars in the Milky Way, and the much more distant background galaxies. The larger context for this image can be found in the widefield annotated image of Centaurus A.

Name: Centaurus A
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Elliptical
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Centaurus
Release date: 22 July 2014, 16:00
Credit: Image credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA Acknowledgement: Marina Rejkuba (European Southern Observatory)

Area of Centaurus A halo probed by Hubble: This image shows one of the areas of Centaurus A's halo probed by the  NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys. Hubble's unique capabilities allowed astronomers to analyse the faint  stars in the halo, which can be seen in this image along with the  brighter foreground stars in the Milky Way, and the much more distant  background galaxies. The larger context for this image can be found in the widefield annotated image of Centaurus A.

Name: Centaurus A
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Elliptical
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Centaurus
Release date: 22 July 2014, 16:00
Credit: Image credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA Acknowledgement: Marina Rejkuba (European Southern Observatory)

Hubble image of galaxy cluster MACS J0416.1–2403: This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the galaxy cluster MACS J0416.1–2403. This is one of six being studied by the Hubble Frontier Fields programme. This programme seeks to analyse the mass distribution in these huge clusters and to use the gravitational lensing effect of these clusters, to peer even deeper into the distant Universe. A team of researchers used almost 200 images of distant galaxies, whose light has been bent and magnified by this huge cluster, combined with the depth of Hubble data to measure the total mass of this cluster more precisely than ever before.

Name: MACS J0416.1-2403
Type: Early Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : Cluster
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Eridanus
Distance: z=0.396 (redshift)
Release date: 24 July 2014, 16:00
Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA, HST Frontier FieldsAcknowledgement: Mathilde Jauzac (Durham University, UK and Astrophysics & Cosmology Research Unit, South Africa) and Jean-Paul Kneib (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland)

Colour image of galaxy cluster MCS J0416.1–2403, annotated: This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the galaxy cluster MCS J0416.1–2403. This is one of six being studied by the Hubble Frontier Fields programme, a programme to analyse the mass distribution in these huge clusters and to use them, combined with a process known as gravitational lensing, to peer even deeper into the distant Universe. A team of researchers used almost 200 images of distant galaxies, whose light has been bent and magnified by this huge cluster, combined with new Hubble data to measure the total mass of this cluster more precisely than ever before. In this image the lensed images used for this study are circled in red.

Name: MACS J0416.1-2403
Type: Early Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : Cluster
Category: Galaxies
Release date: 24 July 2014, 16:00
Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA, HST Frontier Fields Acknowledgement: Mathilde Jauzac (Durham University, UK and Astrophysics & Cosmology Research Unit, South Africa) and Jean-Paul Kneib (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland)

Mass map of galaxy cluster MCS J0416.1–2403 using strong and weak lensing: This image shows the galaxy MCS J0416.1–2403, one of six clusters targeted by the Hubble Frontier Fields programme. The varying intensity of blue haze in this image is a mass map created by using new Hubble observations combined with the magnifying power of a process known as gravitational lensing. Strong lensing gives a much more precise indication of the mass at the cluster’s core whilst weak lensing provides valuable information about the mass surrounding the cluster core.

Name: MACS J0416.1-2403
Type: Early Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : Cluster
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Eridanus
Release date: 24 July 2014, 16:00
Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA, HST Frontier Fields Acknowledgement: Mathilde Jauzac (Durham University, UK and Astrophysics & Cosmology Research Unit, South Africa) and Jean-Paul Kneib (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland)