El Gordo: a massive distant merging galaxy cluster

This picture of the galaxy cluster ACT-CL J0102−4915 combines images taken with ESO’s Very Large Telescope with images from the SOAR Telescope. This newly discovered object has been nicknamed El Gordo — the "big" or "fat one" in Spanish. It consists of two separate galaxy subclusters colliding at several million kilometres per hour, and is so far away that its light has travelled for seven billion years to reach the Earth. The merging cluster appear as a cloud of huge numbers of faint galaxies stretching from the lower left to the upper right of the picture. Close to the centre a pale blue line caused by gravitational lensing of a more distant galaxy can be seen.

Crédit:

ESO/SOAR

À propos de l'image

Identification:eso1203b
Type:Observation
Date de publication:9 janvier 2012 12:12
Communiqués de presse en rapport:eso1203
Taille:1530 x 1182 px

À propos de l'objet

Nom:ACT-CL J0102−4915
Type:Early Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : Cluster
Distance:z=0.87 (redshift)
Constellation:Phoenix
Catégorie:Cosmology

Formats des images

Grand JPEG
889,5 Kio
JPEG taille écran
270,5 Kio

Zoomable


Fonds d'écran

1024x768
337,2 Kio
1280x1024
620,4 Kio
1600x1200
782,2 Kio
1920x1200
892,0 Kio
2048x1536
1,2 Mio

Coordinates

Position (RA):1 2 57.12
Position (Dec):-49° 15' 20.11"
Field of view:6.46 x 4.99 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 0.0° left of vertical

Couleurs & filtres

DomaineLongueur d'ondeTélescope
Visible
R
655 nmVery Large Telescope
FORS2
Infrarouge
I
768 nmVery Large Telescope
FORS2
Infrarouge
Z
910 nmVery Large Telescope
FORS2