History of Chandra X-Ray Observatory

This image of the galaxy cluster Abell 2125, provided by the Chandra X-Ray Observatory (CXO), reveals several massive multimillion degree Celsius gas clouds that appear to be in the process of merging. Ten of the point-like sources are associated with galaxies in the cluster and the rest are probably distant background galaxies. The small bright feature in the extreme lower right-hand corner is probably a background galaxy cluster not associated with Abell 2125. The bright gas cloud on the upper left is the core of the cluster and envelopes hundreds of galaxies. It consists of several elongated clouds that are merging. Chandra, Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and Very Large Array radio telescope data show that several galaxies in the Abell 2125 core cluster are being stripped of their gas as they fall through surrounding high-pressure hot gas. This stripping process has enriched the core cluster's gas in heavy elements such as iron. In contrast, the bright large cloud on the lower right envelopes hundreds of galaxies and has an extraordinarily low concentration of iron atoms. It is thought that this cloud, which is several million light years from the core cluster, has not yet been e

Date: 2004-08-13
Collection: MSFC
Archive: NASA Image and Video Library
Type: photograph