Hubble sees ghost light from dead galaxies in galaxy cluster Abell 2744

Esahubble_opo1443a_1024

esahubble_opo1443a October 31st, 2014

Credit: NASA, ESA, M. Montes (IAC), and J. Lotz, M. Mountain, A. Koekemoer, and the HFF Team (STScI)

The massive galaxy cluster Abell 2744, nicknamed Pandora's Cluster, takes on a ghostly look in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope view. In this image the total starlight from the cluster has been artificially coloured blue. This reveals that not all the starlight is contained within the cities of stars the galaxies which appear as bright blue-white blobs. A fraction of the starlight is also dispersed throughout the cluster, as seen in the darker blue regions. This light comes from dead galaxies. The galaxies were torn apart long ago by the cluster's gravitational forces, and their stars were scattered into what is known as intracluster space the space between the galaxies. These orphaned stars roam the cluster, without being gravitationally tethered to any single galaxy. Because these extremely faint stars are brightest at near-infrared wavelengths of light, this type of observation could only be accomplished with Hubbles infrared sensitivity to extraordinarily dim light. The galaxies that are not coloured blue are either in the foreground or background and are not part of the cluster. Links: NASA press release

Provider: Hubble Space Telescope | ESA

Image Source: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/opo1443a/

Curator: ESA/Hubble, Garching bei München, Germany

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Abell 2744
Subject - Distant Universe
Galaxy > Type > Gravitationally Lensed
Galaxy > Grouping > Cluster
Cosmology > Phenomenon > Lensing
Esahubble_opo1443a_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 0h 14m 21.1s
DEC = -30° 23’ 59.1”
Orientation
North is up
Field of View
1.3 x 1.6 arcminutes
Constellation
Sculptor

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red Hubble (WFC3) Infrared (H) 1.6 µm
Red Hubble (WFC3) Infrared (JH) 1.4 µm
Red Hubble (WFC3) Infrared (J) 1.3 µm
Green Hubble (WFC3) Infrared (Y) 1.1 µm
Green Hubble (ACS) Infrared (I) 814.0 nm
Blue Hubble (ACS) Optical (V) 606.0 nm
Blue Hubble (ACS) Optical (B) 435.0 nm
Spectrum_base
Red
Red
Red
Green
Green
Blue
Blue
Esahubble_opo1443a_1280
×
ID
opo1443a
Subject Category
D.5.1.8   D.5.5.3   D.6.2.1  
Subject Name
Abell 2744
Credits
NASA, ESA, M. Montes (IAC), and J. Lotz, M. Mountain, A. Koekemoer, and the HFF Team (STScI)
Release Date
2014-10-31T15:42:33
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/opo1443a/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Facility
Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope
Instrument
WFC3, WFC3, WFC3, WFC3, ACS, ACS, ACS
Color Assignment
Red, Red, Red, Green, Green, Blue, Blue
Band
Infrared, Infrared, Infrared, Infrared, Infrared, Optical, Optical
Bandpass
H, JH, J, Y, I, V, B
Central Wavelength
1600, 1400, 1250, 1050, 814, 606, 435
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
3.58795023174, -30.399754488
Reference Dimension
2665.0, 3143.0
Reference Pixel
1332.5, 1571.5
Scale
-8.33889645141e-06, 8.33889645141e-06
Rotation
0
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
ESA/Hubble
URL
http://www.spacetelescope.org/
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2
City
Garching bei München
State/Province
Postal Code
D-85748
Country
Germany
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Publisher
ESA/Hubble
Publisher ID
esahubble
Resource ID
opo1443a
Metadata Date
2019-10-07T11:40:26.778671
Metadata Version
1.1
×

 

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×

There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

Providers | Sign In