Free Astronomy Magazine May-June 2023

MAY-JUNE 2023 three clusters of galaxies – already massive – coming together to form a megacluster. The combined mass of the galaxy clusters creates a pow- erful gravitational lens, a natural magnification effect of gravity, al- lowing much more distant galaxies in the early universe to be observed by using the cluster like a magnify- ing glass. Only Pandora’s central core has previously been studied in detail by NASA’s Hubble Space Tele- New details in Pandora’s Cluster by NASA/ESA/CSA Leah Ramsay Christine Pulliam A stronomers have revealed the latest deep field image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, featuring never- before-seen details in a region of space known as Pandora’s Cluster (Abell 2744). Webb’s view displays A stronomers estimate 50,000 sources of near-infrared light are represented in this image from NASA’s James Webb Space Tele- scope. Their light has travelled through varying distances to reach the telescope’s detectors, represent- ing the vastness of space in a single image. [NASA, ESA, CSA, Ivo Labbe (Swinburne), Rachel Bezanson (Uni- versity of Pittsburgh). Image pro- cessing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)]