Suggested Searches

1 min read

Pandora’s Cluster

The headshot image of NASA

NASA

Dec 17, 2018
Image Article
Composite image of Abell 2744, also known as Pandora's cluster.
This composite image contains the aftermath of a giant collision involving four separate galaxy clusters at a distance of about 3.5 billion light years. Officially known as Abell 2744, this system is also referred to by astronomers as "Pandora's Cluster" because all of the different structures found within it.

This composite image contains the aftermath of a giant collision involving four separate galaxy clusters at a distance of about 3.5 billion light years. Officially known as Abell 2744, this system is also referred to by astronomers as “Pandora’s Cluster” because all of the different structures found within it. This view of Abell 2744 contains X-ray data from Chandra (blue) showing hot gas, optical data from Subaru and the VLT (red, green and blue), and radio data from the NSF’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (red).

Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/ITA/INAF/J.Merten et al, Lensing: NASA/STScI, NAOJ/Subaru, ESO/VLT; Optical: NASA/STScI/R.Dupke

Read feature

Read more from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.

For more Chandra images, multimedia and related materials, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/chandra