Webb image archive
Bullet Cluster (Webb and Chandra Image)
Caption This is the central region of the Bullet Cluster, which is made up of two massive galaxy clusters. The vast number of galaxies and foreground stars in the image were captur...
- Date
- Jun 30, 2025
- Observatory
- James Webb Space Telescope
- Credit
- NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI
- Archive ID
- 01JXZNH1HMSCTNHP8TFXE70BDD
Caption
This is the central region of the Bullet Cluster, which is made up of two massive galaxy clusters. The vast number of galaxies and foreground stars in the image were captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in near-infrared light. Glowing, hot X-rays captured by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory appear in pink. The blue represents the dark matter, which was precisely mapped by researchers with Webb’s detailed imaging. Normally, gas, dust, stars, and dark matter are combined into galaxies, even when they are gravitationally bound within larger groups known as galaxy clusters. The Bullet Cluster is unusual in that the intracluster gas and dark matter are separated, offering further evidence in support of dark matter. (See the defined galaxy clusters within the dashed circles.)
Credits
Image
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, CXC
Science
James Jee (Yonsei University, UC Davis), Sangjun Cha (Yonsei University), Kyle Finner (Caltech/IPAC)