Disco lights from a galaxy cluster
In October of 2013 Hubble kicked off the Frontier Fields programme, a three-year series of observations aiming to produce the deepest ever views of the Universe. The project’s targets comprise six massive galaxy clusters, enormous collections of hundreds or even thousands of galaxies. These structures are the largest gravitationally-bound objects in the cosmos.
One of the Frontier Fields targets is shown in this new image: MACS J0717.5+3745, or MACS J0717 for short. MACS J0717 is located about 5.4 billion light-years away from Earth, in the constellation of Auriga (The Charioteer). It is one of the most complex galaxy clusters known; rather than being a single cluster, it is actually the result of four galaxy clusters colliding.
This image is a combination of observations from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (showing the galaxies and stars), the NASA Chandra X-ray Observatory (diffuse emission in blue), and the NRAO Jansky Very Large Array (diffuse emission in pink). The Hubble data were collected as part of the Frontier Fields programme mentioned above.
Together, the three datasets produce a unique new view of MACS J0717. The Hubble data reveal galaxies both within the cluster and far behind it, and the Chandra observations show bright pockets of scorching gas — heated to millions of degrees. The data collected by the Jansky Very Large Array trace the radio emission within the cluster, enormous shock waves — similar to sonic booms — that were triggered by the violent merger.
For more information on Frontier Fields, see Hubblecast 90: The final frontier.
Links
Credit:NASA, ESA, CXC, NRAO/AUI/NSF, STScI, and R. van Weeren (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)
Acknowledgment: NASA, ESA, and J. Lotz (STScI), and the HFF team
About the Image
Id: | potw1611a |
Type: | Observation |
Release date: | 14 March 2016, 06:00 |
Size: | 3600 x 3600 px |
About the Object
Name: | MACS J0717.5+3745 |
Type: | Early Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : Cluster Early Universe : Cosmology : Phenomenon : Lensing |
Distance: | 6 billion light years |
Constellation: | Auriga |
Category: | Cosmology |
Wallpapers
Coordinates
Position (RA): | 7 17 32.88 |
Position (Dec): | 37° 44' 53.10" |
Field of view: | 5.35 x 5.35 arcminutes |
Orientation: | North is 0.0° right of vertical |
Colours & filters
Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
---|---|---|
Optical V | 606 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |
Optical B | 435 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |
X-ray | Chandra | |
Infrared I | 814 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |
Infrared Y | 1.05 μm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFC3 |
Infrared W | 1.6 μm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFC3 |
Infrared H | 1.4 μm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFC3 |
Infrared J | 1.25 μm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFC3 |
Radio | Other |