Discovery Channel :: Hubble Hits: Into Infinity

HUBBLE HITS
Solar System Sentry
Into Infinity
Nature's Space Gardens
Mysteries of the Universe
The Next Generation

Special Report

	EXPAND Collection of galaxies EXPAND A mirage EXPAND A natural magnifying glass EXPAND Gobs of galaxies Into Infinity By Irene Brown Hubble peeps out far, far into the universe, befuddling the mind with a view of hundreds of galaxies in a speck of sky 1/30th the diameter of the full moon. "No thinking human being can look up in the sky and not wonder about all this," says NASA's space sciences chief, Ed Weiler. The telescope's view has been extended beyond its technical limitations by making use of naturally occurring magnifying glasses in space called gravitational lenses. Predicted by Einstein, this phenomenon occurs when space itself is warped by the gravitational forces of a massive amount of matter, such as clusters of galaxies. Light from even more distant objects curves around such masses, appearing magnified. "Hubble has observed some of the most extraordinary things the human mind has ever imagined," says Richard Berendzen, an American University physics professor.

Pictures: R. Williams and the HDF Team (ST ScI) and NASA | Kavan Ratnatunga (Carnegie Mellon Univ.) and NASA | Marijn Franx (University of Groningen, The Netherlands), Garth Illingworth (University of California, Santa Cruz) and NASA | A. Cool, San Francisco State University/ NASA/Hubble Heritage Team |

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