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Galaxy Cluster Abell 520 (con superposiciones CFHT, HST, CFHT/HST y CXO)

This composite image shows the distribution of dark matter, galaxies, and hot gas in the core of the merging galaxy cluster Abell 520, formed from a violent collision of massive galaxy clusters.The natural-color image of the galaxies was taken with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope a...

Fecha
Jan 1, 2012
Misión
Hubble Space Telescope
ID de archivo
hubblesite-images-2012-10-2989-image
Por

This composite image shows the distribution of dark matter, galaxies, and hot gas in the core of the merging galaxy cluster Abell 520, formed from a violent collision of massive galaxy clusters.

The natural-color image of the galaxies was taken with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope in Hawaii. Superimposed on the image are "false-colored" maps showing the concentration of starlight, hot gas, and dark matter. Starlight from galaxies, derived from observations by the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, is colored orange. The green-tinted regions show hot gas, as detected by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. The gas is evidence that a collision took place. The blue-colored areas pinpoint the location of most of the mass in the cluster, which is dominated by dark matter. Dark matter is an invisible substance that makes up most of the universe's mass. The dark-matter map was derived from the Hubble Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 observations by detecting how light from distant objects is distorted by the cluster of galaxies, an effect called gravitational lensing.

The blend of blue and green in the center of the image reveals that a clump of dark matter resides near most of the hot gas, where very few galaxies are found. This finding confirms previous observations of a dark-matter core in the cluster. The result could present a challenge to basic theories of dark matter, which predict that galaxies should be anchored to dark matter, even during the shock of a collision.

Abell 520 resides 2.4 billion light-years away.

Credits

NASA, ESA, CFHT, CXO, M.J. Jee (University of California, Davis), and A. Mahdavi (San Francisco State University, California)

Detalles de la imagen

About The Object
Object NameAbell 520
Object DescriptionMerging Galaxy Cluster
R.A. Position04h 54m 18.98s
Dec. Position02° 56' 48.8"
ConstellationOrion
Distance2.4 billion light-years (740 million parsecs)
About The Data
Data DescriptionThe image was created from Hubble data from proposal : J. Dalcanton (University of Washington, Seattle), A. Mahdavi (San Francisco State University), H. Hoekstra (Leiden Observatory), and A. Babul (University of Victoria, BC). The science paper is led by M.J. Jee (University of California, Davis).
InstrumentHST>WFPC2, CFHT, and Chandra
Exposure DatesAugust 19-22, 2008, Exposure Time: 11 hours
FiltersCFHT (B), CFHT (V), HST/WFPC2 F814W (I), and CXO X-ray
About The Image
Color InfoThis image is a composite of separate exposures acquired by the HST/WFPC2 instrument, the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), and the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Several filters were used to sample various wavelength and energy ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: White (visible): CFHT (B) + CFHT (V) + HST/WFPC2 F814W (I) Red (luminosity): CFHT Blue: HST/WFPC2 F814W (I) Green: CXO X-ray

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Ver en NASA.gov

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