Zooming in on Pandora’s Cluster

This sequence starts with a broad view of the southern skies. We close in on an apparently empty region in the faint constellation of Sculptor. As we zoom in further we can start to make out a faint cloud of very distant galaxies. In the final sequence, based on images from the ESO VLT and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, this object is revealed to be a spectacularly rich merging cluster of galaxies called Abell 2744, and nicknamed Pandora’s Cluster. This remarkable object seems to be the result of the collision of at least four separate galaxy clusters.

Credit:

ESO/NASA/ESA and J. Merten (Heidelberg/Bologna)/D. Coe (STScI)/Digitized Sky Survey 2/A. Fujii. Music: Music: John Dyson (from the album Moonwind)

About the Video

Id:eso1120c
Release date:22 June 2011, 15:00
Related releases:eso1120
Duration:56 s
Frame rate:30 fps

About the Object

Name:Abell 2744
Type:Early Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : Cluster
Category:Galaxy Clusters

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