The ancient Greek myth of Pandora, much adapted by different storytellers and cultures, is at its heart a story of human curiosity and uncovering paradigm-shifting knowledge. In modern astronomy, a region of space where multiple galaxy clusters are merging has been named for the myth and become a favorite observational target for its ability to magnify much more distant galaxies behind it through a natural phenomenon called gravitational lensing. Using this trick of nature, astronomers use Pandora’s Cluster (Abell 2744) like a magnifying glass to reveal features in the early universe that would otherwise be impossible to observe even for the most powerful telescopes. 

Now a team of astronomers has combined the infrared imaging power of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope with the lens of Pandora’s Cluster to create a detailed image of 50,000 sources, including some never-before-seen features. Exploration of Pandora’s Cluster with Webb is ongoing, but already there are tantalizing hints of the new understanding of the universe it will uncover.