The Perseus Cluster of Galaxies
Credit & Copyright: STScI,
AAO, UK-PPARC, ROE
Explanation:
Here is one of the largest objects that anyone will ever see on the
sky. Each of the fuzzy blobs in the above picture is a
galaxy, together making up the Perseus Cluster,
one of the closest
clusters
of galaxies.
We view the cluster through the foreground of faint stars in our own
Milky Way galaxy.
It takes light roughly 300 million years to get here from there, so we only
see this cluster as it existed during the age of the dinosaurs. Also known
as Abell 426, the center of Perseus cluster is a prodigious
source of X-ray radiation,
and so helps us study how
clusters formed and how
gas and
dark
matter interact.
The Perseus Cluster of Galaxies is part of the Pisces-Perseus supercluster
of galaxies, which spans over 15 degrees and contains over 1000 galaxies.
Latest Comet Hyakutake images:
APOD Hyakutake Archive,
JPL,
Fayetteville
Observer-Times,
NASA's Night of
the Comet,
ICSTARS,
Jerry Lodriguss,
ScienceWeb,
Crni Vrh Obs.,
Cent. Mich. U.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
