Abell 1689 size and scale context

Abell 1689 is a massive galaxy cluster whose gravity creates some of the strongest and clearest gravitational lensing arcs ever observed. It is packed with galaxies, dark matter, and hot intracluster gas, making it one of the best-studied natural lenses for probing both the distant universe and the hidden mass inside galaxy clusters. Read its scale context, comparisons, and journey links on the canonical object page.

Large Magellanic CloudDwarf irregular galaxy·32,200 ly
Milky WayBarred spiral galaxy·100,000 ly
Andromeda GalaxyBarred spiral galaxy·152,000 ly
IC 1101Giant elliptical galaxy·500,000 ly
NGC 6872Interacting giant spiral galaxy·716,000 ly
Abell 1689Galaxy cluster·2.4 million ly
Pandora's ClusterGalaxy cluster·4 million ly

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