MACS J0416.1-2403

Tracing Diffuse Starlight in Galaxy Cluster MACS J0416.1-2403

Amid the bright light of its member galaxies, the galaxy cluster MACS J0416.1-2403 also emits a soft glow of intracluster light, produced by stars that are not part of any individual galaxy. These stars were scattered throughout the cluster long ago, when their home galaxies were torn apart by the cluster's gravitational forces. The homeless stars eventually aligned themselves with the gravity of the overall cluster. Hubble's unique sensitivity and resolution captures the faint light and uses it to trace the location of invisible dark matter, which dominates the cluster's gravitational field.

About the colours

These images are composites of separate exposures acquired by the WFC3/IR and ACS/WFC instruments. Several filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: ACS/WFC F435W (B) + F606W (R) Green: ACS/WFC F814W (I) + WFC3/IR F105W (Y) Red: WFC3/IR F125W (J) + F140W (JH) + F160W (H)

About the data

Abell S1063 and MACS J0416 are part of the Frontier Fields Program. These data are from the HST proposals 12458 (PI: M. Postman, STScI), 13459 (PI: T. Treu, UCLA), 14037 (PI: J. Lotz, STScI), and 14209 (PI: B. Siana, UC Riverside).