Astronomy Picture of the Day

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zorg.ch
#49871 by @ 25.09.2004 00:00 - nach oben -
Fornax Cluster in Motion


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.




Credit & Copyright
zorg.ch
#50020 by @ 26.09.2004 21:05 - nach oben -
döt wöt i emol anä. viel harti uv-strahlig, röntgästrahlig und starchi sonnästürm. än traum für alli wo wönd menschheit vernichtä...