NASA Hubble telescope captures smiling galaxy cluster

NASA has released an image of a galaxy cluster, designated as SDSS J1038+4849, that appears to resemble a smiling face. Captured by the Hubble Space Telescope, the formation features bright galaxies that look like eyes and arcs that create the appearance of a smile and a facial outline.

Scientists explain that this visual phenomenon is caused by gravitational lensing. This occurs when massive structures warp spacetime, acting as a cosmic lens that bends and magnifies the light from more distant background objects. Astronomers use this effect as a natural magnifying glass to study faint or distant galaxies and to map the distribution of dark matter within massive galaxy clusters.