Hello There! A "Smiley Face" Galaxy Cluster And Other Hubble Photos
When you gaze into space, does space look back? Check out these Hubble Space Telescope photos!
A strange thing happens when you look into space for too long - sometimes space looks like it's looking back. And I'm not talking about alien races or the like, I mean actual extraterrestrial landscapes. That's why the <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cydonia_%28region_of_Mars%29>"Face of Mars" looks like someone buried up to their neck on a beach, or why the Hubble Space Telescope found an entire galaxy cluster with a face. But don't worry, it's a rather cheerful cluster, so I think we're safe.
Galaxy clusters, for those not in the know, are one of the biggest structures in the entire universe. They're made up of <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy_cluster>hundreds or thousands of galaxies bound together by gravity. One such galaxy, known as <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Attractor>the Great Attractor is so utterly massive that it's actually effecting the local expansion of the Universe. So it's a good thing this happy cluster (called SDSS J1038+4849) seems to like us, or at least is amused by our presence.
Of course, SDSS J1038+4849 isn't actually smiling or sentient (as far as I know anyway). It's part of a phenomenon called dying stars look like butterflies. For this galaxy cluster, two very bright galaxies happen to form the eyes, while light bent from gravitational lensing looks like a smile.
SDSS J1038+4849 isn't a new discovery for science - in fact, a version of this image was submitted to Hubble's Hidden Treasures contest back in 2012. But this particular photograph is a great reminder of the amazing sights of our universe. Whether those sights seem friendly or cheerful is just a matter of interpretation.
For your enjoyment, here are more space images curated by the Hubble Space Telescope website.
[gallery=3812]
Source: Hubble, via <a href=http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/10/tech/space-smiley-face/index.html>CNN
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A strange thing happens when you look into space for too long - sometimes space looks like it's looking back. And I'm not talking about alien races or the like, I mean actual extraterrestrial landscapes. That's why the <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cydonia_%28region_of_Mars%29>"Face of Mars" looks like someone buried up to their neck on a beach, or why the Hubble Space Telescope found an entire galaxy cluster with a face. But don't worry, it's a rather cheerful cluster, so I think we're safe.
Galaxy clusters, for those not in the know, are one of the biggest structures in the entire universe. They're made up of <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy_cluster>hundreds or thousands of galaxies bound together by gravity. One such galaxy, known as <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Attractor>the Great Attractor is so utterly massive that it's actually effecting the local expansion of the Universe. So it's a good thing this happy cluster (called SDSS J1038+4849) seems to like us, or at least is amused by our presence.
Of course, SDSS J1038+4849 isn't actually smiling or sentient (as far as I know anyway). It's part of a phenomenon called dying stars look like butterflies. For this galaxy cluster, two very bright galaxies happen to form the eyes, while light bent from gravitational lensing looks like a smile.
SDSS J1038+4849 isn't a new discovery for science - in fact, a version of this image was submitted to Hubble's Hidden Treasures contest back in 2012. But this particular photograph is a great reminder of the amazing sights of our universe. Whether those sights seem friendly or cheerful is just a matter of interpretation.
For your enjoyment, here are more space images curated by the Hubble Space Telescope website.
[gallery=3812]
Source: Hubble, via <a href=http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/10/tech/space-smiley-face/index.html>CNN
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