# @nasa on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/BmEJIs-AEPh
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/11735058-nasa-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/legacy-do/c3a1f5e68d7cd7eebfe596add9740af9f426a8b4ac36fa0bd6ca020ee9026e8f.jpg
- **Posted:** 2018-08-04T17:06:01.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** NASA (@NASA) — https://gondola.cc/NASA

## Caption

Gravitational lenses — such as this galaxy cluster captured by our Hubble Space Telescope (nasahubble) — possess immense masses that warp their surroundings and bend the light from faraway objects into rings, arcs, streaks, blurs and other odd shapes. This lens is bending the light from a more distant galaxy into a grand arc, which is blue because of the energetic star formation activity in the galaxy. The lens, however, is not only warping the appearance of the distant galaxy — it is also amplifying its light, making it appear much brighter than it would be without the lens. 
Star formation is a key process in astronomy. Everything that emits light is somehow connected to stars, so understanding how stars form is key to understanding countless objects lying across the cosmos. Astronomers can probe these early star-forming regions to learn about the sizes, luminosities, formation rates and generations of different types of stars.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA/Judy Schmidt

#nasa #space #hubble #universe #solarsystem #galaxy #beautiful #lightyears #discovery #exploration #telescope #astronomy #lens #warp #pictureoftheday #stars

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## Credits

No public credits are recorded here. This does not identify who made the post.

## Tags

nasa, hubble, space, warp, galaxy, lens, discovery, universe, beautiful, exploration, solarsystem, telescope, stars, pictureoftheday, lightyears, astronomy

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