Credit & Copyright: X-ray: NASA/CXC/CfA/C. Watson et al.; Optical: PanSTARRS; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk and P. Edmonds
Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)
Explanation:
This big beautiful spiral shines in X-ray light. It is about 20 times larger than our Galaxy.
It belongs to Abell 2029, a galaxy cluster one billion light-years away.
(To see only the galaxies, hover your cursor over the image, or follow this link.)
Galaxy clusters are the largest structures in the universe that are supported by gravity.
Abell 2029 is formed by thousands of galaxies, surrounded by a huge cloud of hot gas and the equivalent of hundreds of trillions times the mass of the Sun in dark matter.
The spiral is made of gas, mostly hydrogen and helium, heated to tens of millions of degrees.
It was found in a recent study that used data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to show that Abell 2029 had a collision with a smaller cluster four billion years ago.
The collision affected the gravitational field and caused the intracluster gas to slosh, like wine moving in a wine glass, shaping the spiral.
Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 |
Январь Февраль Март Апрель Май Июнь Июль Август Сентябрь Октябрь Ноябрь Декабрь |
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
