This is an example of gravitational lensing. A massive object between us and a distant galaxy warps space-time, “blurring” the image of the distant galaxy into a bug-eyed monster. (The classic video game Space Invaders had similar-looking critters.)
Space Invaders from the 1970s
This cluster of galaxies — each containing hundreds of millions of stars — is about 2 billion light-years away. So, we’re seeing these galaxies the way they looked a long time ago. [Photo from Hubble Space Telescope Science Institute.]
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