Collage of six cluster collisions, with dark-matter maps and x-ray data
This collage shows images of six different galaxy clusters taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. The clusters were observed in a study of how dark matter in clusters of galaxies behaves when the clusters collide. Seventy-two large cluster collisions were studied in total.
Using visible-light images from Hubble, the team was able to map the post-collision distribution of stars and also of the dark matter(coloured in blue), which was traced through its gravitational lensing effects on background light. Chandra was used to see the X-ray emission from impacted gas (pink).
The team determined that dark matter interacts with itself and everything else even less than previously thought.
The clusters shown here are, from left to right and top to bottom: MACS J0416.1-2403, MACS J0152.5-2852, MACS J0717.5+3745, Abell 370, Abell 2744, and ZwCl 1358+62.
Credit:NASA/ESA/STScI/CXC, D. Harvey (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Switzerland; University of Edinburgh, UK), R. Massey (Durham University, UK), T. Kitching (University College London, UK), and A. Taylor and E. Tittley (University of Edinburgh, UK
About the Image
Id: | heic1506h |
Type: | Collage |
Release date: | 26 March 2015, 19:00 |
Related releases: | heic1506 |
Size: | 2431 x 1463 px |
About the Object
Name: | Abell 2744, Abell 370, MACS J0152.5-2852, MACS J0416.1-2403, MACS J0717.5+3745, ZwCl 1358+62 |
Type: | Early Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : Cluster Early Universe : Cosmology : Phenomenon : Dark Matter |
Category: | Cosmology |
Colours & filters
Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
---|---|---|
Optical V | 606 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |
Optical B | 435 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |
Optical R | 606 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |
Optical V |
Very Large Telescope (VLT)
FORS1 | |
Optical B | Hubble Space Telescope | |
Infrared I | 814 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFC3 |
Optical R | 625 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |
Optical R |
Very Large Telescope (VLT)
FORS1 | |
Optical G | 606 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |
Optical V | Hubble Space Telescope | |
Infrared Y | 1.1 μm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFC3 |
Infrared R |
Very Large Telescope (VLT)
FORS1 | |
Optical I | 814 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |
Optical R | Hubble Space Telescope | |
Infrared I | 814 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |
Infrared J | 1.4 μm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFC3 |
X-ray | ||
Optical V+I |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |