This image shows the location of most of the mass in merging galaxy cluster Abell 520's core, which is dominated by dark matter. Dark matter is an invisible substance that makes up most of the universe's mass. The dark-matter map was derived from Hubble Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 observations, by detecting how light from distant objects is distorted by the cluster galaxies, an effect called gravitational lensing.
Abell 520 resides 2.4 billion light-years away.
Credits
NASA, ESA, and M.J. Jee (University of California, Davis)| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | Abell 520 |
| Object Description | Merging Galaxy Cluster |
| R.A. Position | 04h 54m 18.98s |
| Dec. Position | 02° 56' 48.8" |
| Constellation | Orion |
| Distance | 2.4 billion light-years (740 million parsecs) |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The image was created from Hubble data from proposal : J. Dalcanton (University of Washington, Seattle), A. Mahdavi (San Francisco State University), H. Hoekstra (Leiden Observatory), and A. Babul (University of Victoria, BC). The science paper is led by M.J. Jee (University of California, Davis). |
| Instrument | HST>WFPC2 |
| Filters | HST/WFPC2 F814W (I) |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | Blue: HST/WFPC2 F814W (I) |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
