Pages

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Galaxy Cluster MCS J0416.1-2403


This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the galaxy cluster MCS J0416.1-2403. This is one of six being studied by the Hubble Frontier Fields program. This program seeks to analyze the mass distribution in these huge clusters and to use the gravitational lensing effect of these clusters, to peer even deeper into the distant Universe.

A team of researchers used almost 200 images of distant galaxies, whose light has been bent and magnified by this huge cluster, combined with the depth of Hubble data to measure the total mass of this cluster more precisely than ever before.

Image credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA, HST Frontier Fields
Acknowledgement: Mathilde Jauzac (Durham University, UK and Astrophysics & Cosmology Research Unit, South Africa) and Jean-Paul Kneib (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland)

Note: For more information, see New Mass Map of a Distant Galaxy Cluster is the Most Precise Yet.

No comments: