Key facts
- Category
- Galaxy clusters
- Object class
- Colliding galaxy clusters
- Scale fact
- 6.3 million lyobserved field width
- Composition
- ~40 galaxies, hot intracluster gas, dark matter
Bullet Cluster
6.3 million lyobserved field width
Visual creditMagellan and Hubble 2006 / NASA / CXC / M. Weiss / Public domainSource: Wikimedia Commons
Details
The Bullet Cluster is a pair of colliding galaxy clusters whose components have been torn apart by impact. Its galaxies and most of its mass passed through relatively cleanly, while the hot ordinary gas lagged behind, making the system one of astronomy’s clearest pieces of evidence that most matter in galaxy clusters is dark matter.
In the Bullet Cluster, two galaxy clusters have passed through one another. Their hot gas collided, slowed and remained near the center, while the galaxies crossed with much less resistance.
Gravitational-lensing maps place most of the mass near the galaxies rather than the X-ray-bright gas, which contains most of the ordinary matter. That spatial separation is strong evidence for a collisionless dark-matter component, although the displayed 6.3-million-light-year size is the width of the observed field rather than a physical cluster boundary.
Links
- Preset views
- Wikipedia
- Bullet Cluster on Wikipedia
- Universe journey
- Cosmic web
Size neighbors
Objects near Bullet Cluster on the scale
On the logarithmic size axis, Bullet Cluster falls between Pandora's Cluster and Perseus Cluster. The band uses nearby Galaxy clusters records.
Shared physical scale
15.3million ly
Sources
References for Bullet Cluster
Measurements and descriptive context are compiled by the Scale of Space team from the references below. If you find an error, please let us know.
- Bullet Cluster — Wikipedia
- Visual reference: Wikimedia Commons (Magellan and Hubble 2006 / NASA / CXC / M. Weiss, Public domain)
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About
Scale of Space is a scroll-based journey through the universe, placing objects on a single logarithmic scale so you can compare size across an unbroken range.
Guides explain selected parts of that range, while focused views filter the objects by subject.