Galaxy cluster MACS J2129-0741 and lensed galaxy MACS2129-1: Acting as a natural telescope in space, the gravity of the extremely massive foreground galaxy cluster MACS J2129-0741 magnifies, brightens, and distorts the far-distant background galaxy MACS2129-1, shown in the top box. The middle box is a blown-up view of the gravitationally lensed galaxy. The bottom box displays a reconstructed image, based on modeling, that shows what the galaxy would look like if the galaxy cluster were not present. The galaxy appears red because it is so distant that its light is shifted into the red part of the spectrum.

Name: MACS2129-1, MACS J2129-0741
Type: Early Universe : Galaxy : Type : Gravitationally LensedEarly Universe : Cosmology : Phenomenon : Lensing
Category: CosmologyGalaxies
Release date: 22 June 2017, 12:13
Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, and Sune Toft (Dark Cosmology Centre at the Niels Bohr Inst., Univ. of Copenhagen)

MACS2129-1 compared with the Milky Way (artist’s impression): This artist’s impression shows what the young, dead, disc galaxy MACS2129-1, right, would look like when compared with the Milky Way galaxy, left. Although three times as massive as the Milky Way, it is only half the size. MACS2129-1 is also spinning more than twice as fast as the Milky Way. The artist’s impressions shows regions within the Milky Way in blue from bursts of star formation, while the young, dead galaxy is yellow, signifying an older star population and no new star birth.

Name: MACS2129-1, Milky Way
Type: Unspecified : Galaxy
Category: Galaxies
Release date: 22 June 2017, 11:38
Credit: NASA, ESA, and Z. Levy (STScI)

Galaxy cluster MACS J2129-0741: This image is a wide-field view of the galaxy cluster MACS J2129-0741, located in the constellation Aquarius (the Water-Bearer). The massive galaxy cluster magnifies, brightens, and distorts the images of remote background galaxies, including the far-distant, dead disc galaxy MACS2129-1.

Name: MACS2129-1, MACS J2129-0741
Type: Early Universe : Galaxy : Type : Gravitationally LensedEarly Universe : Cosmology : Phenomenon : Lensing
Category: CosmologyGalaxies
Constellation: Aquarius
Distance: 6 billion light years
Release date: 22 June 2017, 12:13
Credit: NASA, ESA, Marc Postman (STScI), and the CLASH team.

Hubble pushed beyond limits to spot clumps of new stars in distant galaxy: In this Hubble image of a distant galaxy cluster, a spotty blue arc stands out dramatically against a background of red galaxies. That arc is actually three separate images of the same background galaxy. The background galaxy has been gravitationally lensed, its light magnified and distorted by the intervening galaxy cluster. By using the magnifying power of this natural cosmic lens, astronomers have been able to study the background galaxy in intimate detail. Through sophisticated computer processing, they determined how the galaxy’s image has been warped by gravity. The image at right shows how the galaxy would look to Hubble without distortions. It reveals a disc galaxy containing clumps of star formation that each span about 200 to 300 light-years. This contradicts theories suggesting that star-forming regions in the distant, early Universe were much larger, 3000 light-years or more in size.

Name: SDSS J1110+6459, SGAS J111020.0+645950.8
Type: Early Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : ClusterEarly Universe : Galaxy : Type : Gravitationally LensedEarly Universe : Cosmology : Phenomenon : Lensing
Category: Galaxies
Release date: 10 July 2017, 12:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, and T. Johnson (University of Michigan)

Wide field image of galaxy cluster SDSS J1110+6459: The galaxy cluster shown here, SDSS J1110+6459, was discovered as part of the Sloan Giant Arcs Survey. It is located about 6 billion light-years from Earth (redshift of z=0.659) and contains hundreds of galaxies. At left, a distinctive blue arc is actually composed of three separate images of a more distant background galaxy called SGAS J111020.0+645950.8. This background galaxy has been magnified, distorted, and multiply imaged by the gravity of the galaxy cluster in a process known as gravitational lensing. Links:

Name: SDSS J1110+6459
Type: Early Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : ClusterEarly Universe : Galaxy : Type : Gravitationally LensedEarly Universe : Cosmology : Phenomenon : Lensing
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Ursa Major
Distance: 6 billion light years
Release date: 10 July 2017, 12:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, and T. Johnson (University of Michigan)

Artist's illustration of unlensed source galaxy: This artist’s illustration portrays what the gravitationally lensed galaxy SDSS J1110+6459 might look like up close. A sea of young, blue stars is streaked with dark dust lanes and studded with bright pink patches that mark sites of ongoing star formation. The patches’ signature glow comes from ionized hydrogen, like we see in the Orion Nebula in our own galaxy. According to new research, these distant star-formation regions are clumpy and span about 200 to 300 light-years. This contradicts earlier theories suggesting that such regions might be much larger, 3000 light-years or more in size. Links:

Name: SDSS J1110+6459
Type: Early Universe : Galaxy : Type : Gravitationally Lensed
Category: Galaxies
Release date: 10 July 2017, 12:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, and Z. Levay (STScI)

Artist's impression of WASP-121b: This is an artist’s impression of the gas giant exoplanet WASP-121b. The bloated planet is so close to its star that the tidal pull of the star stretches it into an egg shape. The top of the planet's atmosphere is heated to a blazing 2500 degrees Celsius, hot enough to boil iron. This is the first planet outside our Solar System where astronomers have found the strongest evidence yet for a stratosphere — a layer of atmosphere in which temperature increases with higher altitudes. The planet is about 900 light-years away.

Name: WASP-121b
Type: Milky Way : Planet
Category: Exoplanets
Distance: 900 light years
Release date: 3 August 2017, 11:24
Credit: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI)

Comparison of WASP-121b stratosphere with brown dwarf atmosphere: This diagram presents evidence for the existence of a stratosphere on a planet orbiting another star. As on Earth, the stratosphere increases in temperature with altitude. The water emissions from the Jupiter-sized planet's upper atmosphere show this. The results are in marked contrast to the spectrum of a failed star, a brown dwarf, which shows water absorption because the atmosphere is cooling with altitude increase.

Name: WASP-121b
Type: Milky Way : Planet
Category: Exoplanets
Distance: 900 light years
Release date: 3 August 2017, 11:24
Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Feild (STScI)