Un peso pesado intergaláctico
Esta imagen de campo profundo muestra lo que se conoce como un supercúmulo de galaxias — un grupo gigantesco de cúmulos de galaxias que a su vez están agrupadas. Este en concreto, conocido como Abell 901/902, incluye tres cúmulos principales independientes y numerosos filamentos de galaxias, típicos de estas superestructuras. Por encima, a la derecha de la prominente estrella roja de fondo que se encuentra cerca del centro de a imagen, puede verse un cúmulo, Abell 901a. Aún más a la derecha de Abell 901a, y ligeramente más abajo, se encuentra otro cúmulo, Abell 901b. Finalmente, justo debajo de la estrella roja, hacia el extremo de la imagen, está el cúmulo Abell 902.
El supercúmulo Abell 901/902 se encuentra a poco más de dos mil millones de años luz de la Tierra, y contiene cientos de galaxias en una región de un tamaño de unos 16 millones de años luz. Si hacemos una comparación, el Grupo Local de galaxias — que contiene a nuestra Vía Láctea entre otras más de 50 — mide aproximadamente diez millones de años luz.
Esta imagen fue captada por la cámara Wide Field Imager (WFI), instalada en el telescopio MPG/ESO de 2,2 metros, que se encuentra en el Observatorio La Silla, en Chile. Utilizando datos de WFI y del Telescopio Espacial Hubble, de NASA/ESA, en 2008 los astrónomos fueron capaces de cartografiar con precisión la distribución de la materia oscura en este supercúmulo, mostrando que los cúmulos y las galaxias individuales que forman la superestructura están inmersas en vastas aglomeraciones de materia oscura. Para ello, los astrónomos observaron cómo la luz de 60.000 galaxias distantes, situadas tras el supercúmulo, era distorsionada por la influencia gravitatoria de la materia oscura que contiene, lo cual reveló su distribución. Se estima que la masa de los cuatro conglomerados principales de materia oscura de Abell 901/902 debe estar en torno a los diez billones de veces la masa del Sol.
Las observaciones que se observan en esta imagen forman parte del sondeo COMBO-17, llevado a cabo con 17 filtros ópticos diferentes, utilizando la cámara WFI. Hasta el momento, el proyecto COMBO-17 ha descubierto unas 25.000 galaxias.
Enlaces
- El sondeo COMBO-17 en el Instituto Max-Planck de Astronomía, Heidelberg
- Visión con mayor amplitud de campo del área que rodea al supercúmulo Abell 901/902
Crédito:
ESO
Sobre la imagen
| Identificador: | potw1304a |
| Idioma: | es |
| Tipo: | Observación |
| Fecha de publicación: | 28 de Enero de 2013 a las 10:00 |
| Tamaño: | 7595 x 7557 px |
Sobre el objeto
| Nombre: | NAME ACO 901-902 SUPERCLUSTER |
| Tipo: | Early Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : Supercluster |
| Distancia: | z=0.16 (desplazamiento al rojo) |
| Constellation: | Sextans |
Formatos de imagen
Fondo de pantalla
Coordenadas
| Position (RA): | 9 56 17.78 |
| Position (Dec): | -10° 1' 27.67" |
| Field of view: | 30.12 x 29.97 arcminutes |
| Orientación: | El norte está a 0.1° a la derecha de la vertical |
Colores y filtros
| Banda | Longitud de onda | Telescopio |
|---|---|---|
| Oltravioleta U | 340 nm | MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope WFI |
| Óptico B | 451 nm | MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope WFI |
| Óptico V | 539 nm | MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope WFI |
| Óptico R | 651 nm | MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope WFI |
| Infrarrojo I | 783 nm | MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope WFI |
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