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Abell 209 is an enormous galaxy cluster situated about 2.8 billion light-years away in the constellation of Cetus.
This Hubble image reveals Abell 209, a galaxy cluster situated about 2.8 billion light-years away in the constellation of Cetus. The color image consists of both optical and infrared observations from Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Twelve filters were utilized to sample different wavelengths. The color arises from designating various colors to each monochromatic image related to a private filter. Image credit: NASA/ ESA/ Hubble/ M. Postman/ P. Kelly.
Galaxy clusters include countless galaxies of any ages, sizes and shapes.
Normally, they have a mass of about one million billion times the mass of the Sun.
At one time galaxy clusters were thought to be the biggest structures in deep space– till they were taken over in the 1980s by the discovery of superclusters, which normally consist of lots of galaxy clusters and groups and period numerous countless light-years.
Galaxy clusters do have one thing to stick on to; superclusters are not held together by gravity, so galaxy clusters still keep the title of the greatest structures in the Universe bound by gravity.
“Abell 209’s galaxies are separated by countless light-years, and the relatively void in between the galaxies is in fact filled with hot, scattered gas that can be identified just at X-ray wavelengths,” Hubble astronomers stated in a declaration.
“A much more evasive resident of this galaxy cluster is dark matter: a type of matter that does not connect with light.”
“The Universe is comprehended to be consisted of 5% regular matter, 25% dark matter, and 70% dark energy,” they stated.
“Hubble observations like the ones utilized to produce this image can assist us address essential concerns about our Universe, consisting of secrets surrounding dark matter and dark energy.”
“These examinations take advantage of the tremendous mass of a galaxy cluster, which can flex the material of spacetime itself and produce distorted and amplified pictures of background galaxies and stars in a procedure called gravitational lensing.”
“While this image does not have the remarkable rings that gravitational lensing can often produce, Abell 209 still reveals subtle indications of lensing at work, in the type of streaky, a little curved galaxies within the cluster’s golden radiance.”
“By determining the distortion of these galaxies, astronomers can map the circulation of mass within the cluster, lighting up the underlying cloud of dark matter.”
“This details, which Hubble’s great resolution and delicate instruments assist to supply, is vital for evaluating theories of how our Universe has actually developed.”
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