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(Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, CXC)
What it is: The Bullet Cluster
Where it is: 3.7 billion light-years from Earth, in the constellation Carina
When it was shared: June 30, 2025
Why it’s so unique: Galaxy clusters function as a magnifying lens, shining light on the faintest and most remote things– a phenomenon called gravitational lensing. On the rarest of events, galaxy clusters clash, developing a much more enormous lens. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)just recently supplied incredibly comprehensive observations of such a lens, the Bullet Cluster.
Found about 3.7 billion light-years from Earth in the constellation Carina, the Bullet Cluster is the after-effects of the accident in between 2 galaxy clusters that is approximated to have actually started roughly 150 million years earlier. Each of the 2 galaxy clusters can be identified within the blue areas, yet they are bound by gravity and together form a single entity– the Bullet Cluster.
While gravitational lensing brings far-off, faint items into light, the level of lensing can expose the mass circulation within the enormous foreground galaxy cluster. Mystical dark matter comprises a big portion of galaxy clusters, however is challenging to find due to the fact that it does not show, take in or give off light. Astronomers in some cases study light from stars that are within the galaxy cluster however are not part of any galaxies. These stars are called intracluster stars and are drifting since they are removed from their galaxies throughout crashes. By examining the light from these stars, scientists can trace the circulation of dark matter, as these stars are gravitationally bound to the cluster’s dark matter.
Related: James Webb telescope finds tentacled ‘jellyfish’ galaxy swimming through deep area
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The complete view of the Bullet Cluster (Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, CXC)
The most recent information from JWST, integrated with information from the Chandra X-ray Observatory, enabled astronomers to develop a precise map of mass– both noticeable and dark matter– within the Bullet Cluster. The light from intracluster stars determined the place of unnoticeable matter, and the X-rays verified the area of hot gas. Based upon these observations, astronomers might “replay” the accident. This exposed that hot gas (in intense pink) was taken out of the galaxy clusters and left in the main area, while the dark matter (in blue) related to private galaxy clusters remained undamaged and was not dragged away.
This sensational image, a composite of JWST’s near-infrared information and Chandra’s X-ray information, exposes clumps and stretched-out lines of mass that were formerly unidentified. These newly found structures might be signatures of a disorderly history, recommending that the Bullet Cluster might have suffered a number of crashes over billions of years. The bigger cluster, on the left side, may have gone through different interactions before and after clashing with the smaller sized cluster on the.
This dazzling image covers just a part of the crash’s after-effects. In the future, the wide-area near-infrared images taken with NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope might offer a total photo of the Bullet Cluster, both by revealing amazing images and deciphering its secrets.
For more superb area images, take a look at our Area Photo of the Week archives
Shreejaya Karantha is a science author focusing on astronomy, covering subjects such as the sun, planetary science, outstanding development, great voids, and early universe cosmology. Based in India, she works as an author and research study professional at The Secrets of deep space, where she adds to scripts for research-based and explainer videos. Shreejaya holds a bachelor’s degree in science and a master’s degree in physics with an expertise in astrophysics.
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