NASA says a James Webb Space Telescope image released Sept. 29, 2026, captures the galaxy cluster MACS J0454.1-0300 and distant galaxies appearing distorted around it.
The bright golden galaxies belong to the cluster, according to the agency. The orange galaxies grouped on one side of the image lie much farther away and are not members of the cluster.
Their light has been bent and magnified by gravitational lensing, a phenomenon in which the mass of a foreground object—such as a galaxy cluster—alters the path of light from objects behind it. The effect can make background galaxies appear distorted or multiplied.
The image credit lists ESA/Webb, NASA and the Canadian Space Agency, along with L. Furtak and S. Fujimoto. NASA’s source page was published Oct. 9, 2026.
