The cluster, alternatively cataloged as MACS J0018.5+1626, has long been a primary focus for X-ray and radio wave research due to its intense luminosity. By utilizing the Advanced Camera for Surveys, researchers can now infer the distribution of dark matter within this chaotic merger. While dark matter remains invisible to traditional sensors, it reveals its presence through gravitational lensing—the warping of light from background objects—which Hubble tracks in both visible and infrared spectrums.
This analysis incorporates data from the Reionisation Lensing Cluster Survey, or RELICS, which cataloged 46 massive clusters to detect distant, lensed galaxies. The survey successfully identified roughly 300 high-redshift candidates. In the new image, these distant galaxies appear as faint, distorted arcs flanking the central elliptical galaxies, providing the necessary data points to calculate the mass and behavior of the dark matter holding the cluster together.
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