On Thursday, May 4, Hubble dropped a “cute” press release comparing a new image of a galaxy cluster to the Marvel movie Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2. It was a timely yet mega-dad corny way to make the image of the galaxy cluster Abell 370 seem relevant. While there’s literally no connection between the James Gunn movie and the galaxy cluster, located roughly four billion light years away, that didn’t stop literally everyone from trying to make this A Thing.
Image: NASA, ESA, and J. Lotz and the HFF Team (STScI)
For context, here’s the image, which was captured in visible and near-infrared light. As you can see, while there are hundreds of galaxies in this cluster, there is no relationship between this and the film currently in theatres. For one thing, there is no Baby Groot. There are also no signs of Kurt Russell’s flowing locks. Abell 370 is a masterpiece on its own, as the gravity pulling these galaxies together actually warps the fabric of spacetime itself, stretching and magnifying background galaxies, which appear as blueish streaks and lines in the dazzling image below.
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and J. Lotz and the HFF Team (STScI)
According to NASA, Abel 370 is the last of six distant galaxy clusters imaged in the “Frontier Fields” campaign, which harnessed observatories across the world to image some of the most distant structures in our universe.
Now, here’s the cornball stuff everyone said about it:
Screen Shot via Eurekalert
No.
Nope.
Screen Shot via Space.com
*Simon Cowell voice* It’s a no for me.
Image: Screen Shot via Travellers Today
The picture was good on its own, guys. It admittedly could have been better with this gif of Baby Groot, though.
