Gravity's Grin

© X-ray - NASA / CXC / J. Irwin et al. ; Optical - NASA/STScI

Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, published over 100 years ago, predicted the phenomenon of gravitational lensing. And that's what gives these distant galaxies such a whimsical appearance, seen through the looking glass of X-ray and optical image data from the Chandra and Hubble space telescopes. Nicknamed the Cheshire Cat galaxy group, the group's two large elliptical galaxies are suggestively framed by arcs. The arcs are optical images of distant background galaxies lensed by the foreground group's total distribution of gravitational mass. Of course, that gravitational mass is dominated by dark matter. The two large elliptical "eye" galaxies represent the brightest members of their own galaxy groups which are merging. Their relative collisional speed of nearly 1,350 kilometers/second heats gas to millions of degrees producing the X-ray glow shown in purple hues. Curiouser about galaxy group mergers? The Cheshire Cat group grins in the constellation Ursa Major, some 4.6 billion light-years away.

Based on Astronomy Picture Of the Day.

0 комментариев
11-05-2022, 10:00
Information
Users of Гости are not allowed to comment this publication.
Subscribe to Our Newsletter and receive the latest information about space
Уже подписались: 2
Подписаться

This resource is non-commercial and exists thanks to the hosting provider: ua-hosting.company.

The site administration is not responsible for the content of comments on the site's materials. Comments on the site's materials are the personal opinions of the site's visitors.
© «Big.Space» 2024
Мы используем файлы cookies для улучшения работы сайта. Оставаясь на нашем сайте, вы соглашаетесь с нашей Политикой в отношении обработки персональных данных. Подробнее
Принимаю