Day 3 of the 2025 Space Telescope Advent Calendar: A Galactic Cluster
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The third day of the 18th annual Space Telescope Advent Calendar features a deep-space image of more than 100 galaxies close together.

A deep-space image of many dozens of different-colored galaxies, some with a typical spiral shape, most appearing as small blobs of light.

ESA / Hubble & NASA, M. Postman, P. Kelly

Day 3 of the 2025 Space Telescope Advent Calendar: A Galactic Cluster. More than 100 galaxies can be seen in Galaxy Cluster Abell 209, situated about 2.8 billion light-years away. Though they look close to one another, these galaxies are still separated by millions of light-years. Their combined mass manages to warp and magnify some even more-distant galaxies through a process called gravitational lensing. Lensed galaxies here appear stretched or streaky toward the center.

See the full advent calendar here, where a new image will be revealed each day until December 25.

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