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Cluster of galaxies

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Definition: cluster of galaxies: A system of galaxies containing from a few to a few thousand member galaxies which are all gravitationally bound to each other.
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cluster of galaxies
A system of galaxies containing from a few to a few thousand member galaxies which are all to each other.

Cluster of Galaxies - A group of galaxies held together by their mutual gravitational attraction
Cluster of Stars - A group of stars held together by their mutual gravitational attraction ...

cluster of galaxies
A collection of galaxies containing a few to several thousand member galaxies.
cluster of stars ...

Cluster of Galaxies
An aggregate of galaxies. Bautz and Morgan divide them into three morphological types: type I contains a supergiant cD galaxy; type III contains no members significantly brighter than the general bright population.

A cluster of galaxies about 200 Mpc distant. It is also an extended X-ray source. Its radio counterpart is compact and located inside NGC 4696. (3U 1247-41) [H76] Centaurus X-3 ...

The cluster of galaxies is observed as it was at a time when the Universe was only about 10% of its present age because it has taken the light now recorded by the VLT about nine-tenths of the age of the Universe to travel this huge distance.

The Coma Cluster of Galaxies
Click on image for full size (44K JPG)
Hubble Space Telescope Image Courtesy of STScI
We have seen that stars cluster together to form galaxies. Galaxies also cluster together to form much larger structures.

This rich cluster of galaxies is located about 1°30' SW of b Coronae Borealis (see finder chart below). About 1.5 billion light years distant, it occupies area of the sky almost 1° across! ...

The Virgo cluster of galaxies is home to more than 100 galaxies of many types. Now, astronomers think they've found a galaxy sans stars. Jean-Charles Cuillandre, Coelum, CFHT [View Larger Image] ...

The closest large cluster of galaxies is called the Virgo cluster (toward the direction of the Virgo constellation). The Virgo cluster has over 1000 galaxies in it and is roughly 50 meters away in our scale model.

A rich cluster of galaxies identified in the Abell Catalog of Rich Clusters of Galaxies, which was the first comprehensive catalogue of clusters of galaxies and, in its extended form, is still the largest.

gravitational lenses (AS&T Dictionary) The effect of focusing of a massive and mostly invisible object, such as a cluster of galaxies or a single galaxy, on light coming from a more distant object lying behind it; ...

More recently, astronomers have used NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to make the most detaile measurement yet of the distribution of dark matter in a massive cluster of galaxies.

Our Milky Way Galaxy is a galaxy in what is called the Our Supercluster of Galaxies by the National Geographic Society. Some 150 million light-years across, Our Supercluster is a great aggregation of perhaps thousands of smaller clusters of galaxies.

Galaxies in a cluster of galaxies will move around on orbits within that cluster. The Andromeda galaxy is moving toward the Milky Way. These velocities will be present in addition to any Hubble expansion velocity.

Our Galaxy is one of a small cluster of galaxies, which are collectively called the Local Group. The Local Group contains numerous dwarf galaxies and a few larger galaxies.

The constellation of Virgo is the center of the closest large cluster of galaxies, and can easily take up several evenings of observing time.

In 1933 Zwicky estimated the total amount of mass in a cluster of galaxies, the Coma Cluster, based on the motions of the galaxies near the edge of the cluster.

M89 is also a member of the incredible Virgo cluster of galaxies. This is an elliptical galaxy and is almost exactly circular in appearance. It is not known if it is actually circular in shape or if it is an elliptical in shape viewed end-on.

The Local Group is the cluster of galaxies to which we belong. It is a group of about 30 galaxies that is about 5 million light-years across. The largest of the galaxies are Andromeda galaxy, Triangulum, and our Milky Way.

This psychedelic tableau is really an X-ray image showing a large blob of hot gas in the middle of a giant cluster of galaxies. The gas is the twisted orange mass at the center of the image.

The Virgo-Coma cluster of galaxies is several times larger than our own local group of galaxies. The cluster lies on the border between the constellations Virgo and . The southern part of it is visible on the upper right of the above image.

A part of the Virgo-Cluster of galaxies swaps over to Coma Berenices. So often this galaxy cluster is called Virgo-Coma-Cluster.

The most outstanding Virgo Supercluster of galaxies is located on the northern border of Virgo reaching into the neighbouring constellation of Coma Berenices.

The mass of a cluster of galaxies can be determined in an analogous way by measuring the motion of the galaxies within it.

super cluster
A huge cluster of galaxies. It can either be a large grouping of thousands of galaxies, or a cluster of individual galaxy clusters.
superior planet
A planet in our solar system that is further from the Sun than the Earth.

In addition, it appears that the space between galaxies in a cluster of galaxies is filled with a very hot, but very dillute gas of 100 million degree. The total amount of hot gas is five to ten times the total amount of mass in the galaxies.

Stephan's Quintet is a noted cluster of galaxies half a degree SSW of NGC 7331. See how many of the five you can spot (three is average, four is good).

Gravitational Lens
a concentration of matter such as a galaxy or cluster of galaxies that bends light rays from a background object. Gravitational lensing results in duplicate images of distant objects.

All three of these galaxies can be found within one degree of each other, making this cluster of galaxies a favorites of amateur astronomers throughout the northern hemisphere.
Clear skies, and good viewing.

Local group. A term used to describe the local cluster of galaxies of which the Milky Way galaxy is part. The largest member of the Local Group is the Andromeda Galaxy, Messier 31.

A massive object that magnifies or distorts the light of objects lying behind it. For example, the powerful gravitational field of a massive cluster of galaxies can bend the light rays from more distant galaxies, ...

I'll stress at the outset that the visible galaxies are such a minor part of the whole assemblages, and are probably even outweighed by the hot intracluster gas, that "cluster of galaxies" is downright misleading, but we're stuck with it.

Irregular Galaxy Cluster: Clusters of galaxies that are not too centrally condensed, with a somewhat nonspherical overall shape, containing a few galaxies up to hundreds of galaxies. Our local group is an example of an irregular cluster of galaxies.

This cluster is roughly 60 million light years from Earth and is the closest cluster of galaxies to our (the ). From Earth, the Virgo cluster spans over 5 degrees in the sky; this is about 10 times the angle made by a full .

The most common theories state that our galaxy and M31 will collide, creating a massive elliptical galaxy, and that the Local Group will eventually be "swallowed" by the almost incomprehensibly huge Virgo Supercluster of galaxies.

See also: Galaxies, Cluster, Galaxy, Light, Telescope