Explanation:
Reminiscent of popular images of the
lovely Pleiades star
cluster that lies within our own Milky Way Galaxy, this
false-color
x-ray view actually explores the center of a much
more extended cosmic family -- the
Fornax cluster of
galaxies some 65 million light-years away.
Spanning nearly 900,000 light-years, the
Chandra Observatory
composite image reveals high-energy emission from several
giant galaxies near the Fornax cluster center and an immense,
diffuse cloud of x-ray emitting hot gas.
On the whole, the hot cluster gas seems to be
trailing toward the upper left in this view.
As a result,
astronomers
surmise that the Fornax cluster
core is moving toward the lower right, encountering
an intergalactic headwind as it sweeps through a larger,
less dense cloud of material.
In fact, along with another visible galaxy grouping at the
outskirts of the cluster, the Fornax cluster core galaxies
seem to be moving toward a common point,
attracted by the dominating gravity of
unseen structures of
dark
matter in the region.
