Nasa Photographs Galactic Space Invader (PICTURES)

PIC: Hubble Photographs Galactic 'Space Invader'
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Nasa has photographed a space invader. Sort of.

In fact it's found - with the help of its Hubble Space Telescope - a galaxy that looks a bit like one.

Abell 68 is a cluster of galaxies which acts as a lens, brightening the natural light coming from very distant galaxies.

In a new photo Nasa says that a galaxy - seen in the upper right - is "stretched and mirrored [by the galactic cluster, not by Nasa] into a shape similar to that of a simulated alien from the classic 1970s computer game "Space Invaders!"

The photo was taken in infrared light by Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3, and was combined with near-infrared observations from Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys.

Nasa added it is based partly on data found by Nick Rose in the Hubble's Hidden Treasures image processing competition.

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