Chandra Finds Most Distant X-ray Galaxy Cluster

Chandra_150_1024

chandra_150 February 15th, 2001

Credit: NASA/IoA/A.Fabian et al.

Using Chandra, astronomers have found the most distant cluster of galaxies ever detected in X rays. Approximately 10 billion light years from Earth, the cluster 3C294 is 40 percent farther than the next most distant X-ray galaxy cluster. Chandra's image reveals an hourglass-shaped region of X-ray emission extending outward for some 300,000 light years from the previously known central radio source. The dots indicate individual X-rays from this very distant source, and the colors indicate their energies, with red for low-energy X rays, green for intermediate, and blue for the highest observed energies. Since galaxy clusters are the largest gravitationally bound structures in the universe, studying such distant clusters provides astronomers with a better understanding of the universe at a much younger age.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/3c294/

Curator: Chandra X-ray Observatory, Cambridge, MA, USA

Image Use Policy: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
3C294

Distance

Universescale3
10,000,000,000 light years
Chandra_150_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 14h 6m 44.0s
DEC = 34° 11’ 25.1”
Orientation
North is 1.9° CW
Field of View
0.8 x 0.8 arcminutes
Constellation
Canes Venatici

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Orange Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) 826.7 pm
Spectrum_xray1
Orange
Chandra_150_1280
×
ID
150
Subject Category
Subject Name
3C294
Credits
NASA/IoA/A.Fabian et al.
Release Date
2001-02-15
Lightyears
10,000,000,000
Redshift
1.786
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/3c294/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra
Instrument
ACIS
Color Assignment
Orange
Band
X-ray
Bandpass
X-ray
Central Wavelength
0.8267
Start Time
2000-10-29T11:11:19
Integration Time
19509
Dataset ID
1588
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
211.6832282, 34.1903186
Reference Dimension
2100.0, 2100.0
Reference Pixel
1051.0, 1051.0
Scale
6.46407e-06, 6.4640723e-06
Rotation
-1.89
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
WCS retrieved using CXCs PinpointWCS
Creator (Curator)
Chandra X-ray Observatory
URL
http://chandra.harvard.edu
Name
Chandra X-ray Observatory Center
Email
cxcpub@cfa.harvard.edu
Telephone
617.496.7941
Address
60 Garden St.
City
Cambridge
State/Province
MA
Postal Code
02138
Country
USA
Rights
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html
Publisher
Chandra X-ray Center
Publisher ID
chandra
Resource ID
3c294_xray.tif
Metadata Date
2012-07-27T15:55:23-04:00
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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Universescalefull
10,000,000,000 light years

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