Here’s this week’s Where In The Universe Challenge. You know what to do: take a look at this image and see if you can determine where in the universe this image is from; give yourself extra points if you can name the instrument responsible for the image. We’ll provide the image today, but won’t reveal the answer until tomorrow. This gives you a chance to mull over the image and provide your answer/guess in the comment section. Please, no links or extensive explanations of what you think this is — give everyone the chance to guess.
UPDATE: Answer now posted below!
This is cluster Abell 901b, taken in 2008 by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys. Hubble has mapped the invisible dark matter as well as the detailed structure of individual galaxies embedded in it. The magenta clumps throughout the image reveal the distribution of dark matter in the cluster. You can see a larger image of the entire Abell supercluster, as well as more information, at the HubbleSite.
