This composite image depicts infrared emission from a 2 arcminute by 2 arcminute region centred on the galaxy cluster XDCPJ0044.0-2033. The image is constructed from Ks (mapped to the red channel), J (green channel) and I (blue channel) band images obtained with the VLT and Subaru telescopes.

The red glow at the centre of the image represents far-infrared emission (at 100 microns) from the galaxies located in the cluster core as measured by Herschel's PACS instrument; it has been heavily smoothed in this image.

XDCPJ0044.0-2033 is a massive galaxy cluster with an estimated mass of about four hundred thousand billion times that of our Sun. It lies at a redshift of almost 1.6, meaning that we see it as it was 9.6 billion years ago.