Galaxy Cluster MACS0416 | Webb & Hubble Space Telescopes

Galaxy Cluster MACS0416 | Webb & Hubble Space Telescopes

This panchromatic view of galaxy cluster MACS0416 was created by combining infrared observations from the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope with visible-light data from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope. To make the image, in general the shortest wavelengths of light were color-coded blue, the longest wavelengths red, and intermediate wavelengths green. The resulting wavelength coverage, from 0.4 to 5 microns, reveals a vivid landscape of galaxies that could be described as one of the most colorful views of the universe ever created.

Image Description: A field of galaxies on the black background of space. In the middle is a collection of dozens of yellowish spiral and elliptical galaxies that form a foreground galaxy cluster. Among them are distorted linear features, which mostly appear to follow invisible concentric circles curving around the center of the image. The linear features are created when the light of a background galaxy is bent and magnified through gravitational lensing. A variety of brightly colored, red and blue galaxies of various shapes are scattered across the image, making it feel densely populated.

MACS0416 is a galaxy cluster located about 4.3 billion light-years from Earth, meaning that the light from it that we see now left the cluster shortly after the formation of our Solar System. This cluster magnifies the light from more distant background galaxies through gravitational lensing. As a result, the research team has been able to identify magnified supernovae and even very highly magnified individual stars.

Those colors give clues to galaxy distances: the bluest galaxies are relatively nearby and often show intense star formation, as best detected by Hubble, while the redder galaxies tend to be more distant, or else contain copious amounts of dust, as best detected by Webb. The image reveals a wealth of details that it is only possible to capture by combining the power of both space telescopes.

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. Diego (Instituto de Física de Cantabria, Spain), J. D’Silva (U. Western Australia), A. Koekemoer (STScI), J. Summers & R. Windhorst (ASU), and H. Yan (U. Missouri)

Release Date: Nov. 9, 2023

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