A Cosmic Cobweb

In celebration of Halloween, Hubble brings you this inky image of the galaxy cluster Abell 611, located roughly 3.2 billion light years from Earth. 

This object is a popular target for investigating dark matter, in part because of the numerous examples of strong gravitational lensing visible amongst the cluster’s intricate web of galaxies.

[Image Description: Hundreds of small galaxies appear across this view. Their colours vary. Some are shades of orange, while others are white. Most appear as fuzzy ovals, but a few have distinct spiral arms. There are also many thin, long, orange arcs that curve around the centre of the image, where there is a prominent orange glow.]