Hubble and HAWK-I explore a cluster with the mass of two quadrillion Suns

Esahubble_potw1752a_1024

esahubble_potw1752a December 25th, 2017

Credit: ESO, ESA/Hubble & NASA

This image shows something spectacular: a massive galaxy cluster that it is warping the space around it! The cluster, whose heart is at the centre of the frame, is named RCS2 J2327, and is one of the most massive clusters known at its distance or beyond. Massive objects such as RCS2 J2327 have such a strong influence on their surroundings that they visibly warp the space around them. This effect is known as gravitational lensing. In this way, they cause the light from more distant objects to be bent, distorted, and magnified, allowing us to see galaxies that would otherwise be far too distant to detect. Gravitational lensing is one of the predictions of Einstein's theory of general relativity. Strong lensing produces stunning images of distorted galaxies and sweeping arcs; both of which can be seen in this image. Weak gravitational lensing, on the other hand, is more subtle, hardly seen directly in an image, and is mostly studied statistically but it provides a way to measure the masses of cosmic objects, as in the case of this cluster. This image is a composite of observations from the HAWK-I instrument on ESOs Very Large Telescope and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescopes Advanced Camera for Surveys. It demonstrates an impressively detailed collaborative approach to studying weak lensing in the cosmos. The study found RCS2 J2327 to contain the mass of two quadrillion Suns! The diffuse blue and white image covering the picture shows a mass map. It is connected to the amount of mass thought to be contained within each region. Links: Galaxy Cluster RCS2 J2327 Comparison image: Hubble and HAWK-I explore a cluster with the mass of two quadrillion Suns

Provider: Hubble Space Telescope | ESA

Image Source: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1752a/

Curator: ESA/Hubble, Garching bei München, Germany

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
RCS2 J2327
Subject - Distant Universe
Galaxy > Grouping > Cluster
Esahubble_potw1752a_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 23h 27m 27.7s
DEC = -2° 4’ 27.0”
Orientation
North is 47.0° CW
Field of View
3.4 x 3.3 arcminutes
Constellation
Pisces

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue None (None) -
Red VLT (HAWK-I) (Ks) -
Green Hubble (ACS) (I) -
Blue Hubble (ACS) (B) -
Esahubble_potw1752a_1280
×
ID
potw1752a
Subject Category
D.5.5.3  
Subject Name
RCS2 J2327
Credits
ESO, ESA/Hubble & NASA
Release Date
2017-12-25T06:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1752a/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Facility
None, Very Large Telescope (VLT), Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope
Instrument
None, HAWK-I, ACS, ACS
Color Assignment
Blue, Red, Green, Blue
Band
Bandpass
-, Ks, I, B
Central Wavelength
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
351.865583937, -2.07417818567
Reference Dimension
4036.0, 4013.0
Reference Pixel
2018.0, 2006.5
Scale
-1.38983481105e-05, 1.38983481105e-05
Rotation
-47.019999999999996
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
potw1752a
Metadata Date
2017-12-21T11:27:19+01:00
Metadata Version
1.1
×

 

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×

There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

Providers | Sign In