NASA Finds Space Invaders Deep In The Cosmos

Leslie Horn, Gawker MediaMar 5, 2013, 08.38 PM IST

NASA's Hubble Telescope peered deep into a cluster of galaxies called Abell 68 recently, and found a wicked space invader that looks like it's headed right for us. Brace for impact!

So what's a classic video game baddie doing hanging out two-billion light-years away? NASA explains that the gravitational field surrounding the galaxies works like a magnifying glass, brightening and stretching light from far away. So you're seeing stretched and mirrored images—a phenomenon known as gravitational lensing—that just happens to look like a space invader. Sure, it's not real, but it's fun to let your imagination run light-years away and imagine that the old game is actually happening out there in the universe. [NASA]