WITU 101

We’re on to the next cto, yibai, cien, cento, hundred of Where In The Universe Challenges. 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: The answer is now posted below.

In honor of Hubble’s 20th birthday, this is an image from the venerable HST, taken shortly after the final repair mission. This is a portion of an image taken by Hubble in July 2009 of the galaxy cluster Abell 370. This is one of the very first galaxy clusters where astronomers observed the phenomenon of gravitational lensing, where the warping of space by the cluster’s gravitational field distorts the light from galaxies lying far behind it. So, the background galaxies appear stretched, and the image also includes as arcs and streaks. This image was taken by the Advanced Camera for Surveys. You can see a larger version and more info at the HubbleSite.