The Spiderweb protocluster

This image shows the protocluster around the Spiderweb galaxy (formally known as MRC 1138-262). The light that we see in the image shows galaxies at a time when the Universe was only 3 billion years old. Most of the mass in the protocluster does not reside in the galaxies, but in the gas known as the intracluster medium. Because of the mass in the gas, the protocluster is in the process of becoming a massive cluster held together by its own gravity.

Credit:

ESO/H. Ford

About the Image

Id:eso2304b
Type:Observation
Release date:29 March 2023, 17:00
Related releases:eso2304
Size:1500 x 1500 px

About the Object

Name:Spiderweb Galaxy
Type:Early Universe : Cosmology : Morphology : Large-Scale Structure
Constellation:Hydra
Category:Galaxy Clusters

Image Formats

Large JPEG
271.9 KB
Screensize JPEG
138.1 KB

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Coordinates

Position (RA):11 40 48.50
Position (Dec):-26° 29' 8.62"
Field of view:1.00 x 1.00 arcminutes
Orientation:North is -0.0° left of vertical

Colours & filters

BandWavelengthTelescope
Optical
G
475 nmHubble Space Telescope
ACS
Optical
I
814 nmHubble Space Telescope
ACS
Optical
G
475 nmHubble Space Telescope
ACS
Optical
I
814 nmHubble Space Telescope
ACS