Galaxy Cluster Gas Creates Hole in Microwave Background
Explanation:
Why would this cluster of galaxy punch a hole in the cosmic microwave background
(CMB)?
First, the
famous CMB
was created by
cooling gas
in the
early universe
and flies right through most gas and dust in the universe.
It is
all around us.
Large
clusters of galaxies have enough gravity to contain very
hot gas -- gas hot enough to up-scatter microwave photons
into light of significantly higher energy, thereby creating a hole in CMB maps.
This SunyaevZel'dovich (SZ) effect has been used for decades to
reveal new information about hot gas in clusters and even to help discover galaxy
clusters in a simple yet uniform way.
Pictured is the most detailed image yet obtained of the
SZ effect, now using both
ALMA to measure the CMB
and the
Hubble Space Telescope
to measure the galaxies in the massive galaxy cluster
RX J1347.5-1145.
False-color blue
depicts light from the
CMB, while almost every
yellow object is a galaxy.
The shape of the
SZ
hole indicates not only that hot gas is present in this galaxy cluster, but also
that it is distributed in a surprisingly uneven manner.
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.
