Gravitational Lensing, Jellyfish Galaxy
A galaxy appears as a bright blue crescent at the top of this Hubble Space Telescope image. The galaxy's shape is due to gravitational lensing. In this image, the gravitational influence of a massive galaxy cluster (called SDSS J1110+6459) is causing spacetime to bend and warp, affecting the passage of any nearby light. This image also features a rare and interesting type of galaxy called a jellyfish galaxy, visible just below the crescent and apparently dripping bright blue material. These are galaxies that lose gas via a process called galactic ram pressure stripping, where the drag caused by the galaxy moving through space causes gas to be stripped away.
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Photo credit: © Science History Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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