Massive Elliptical Galaxy & Cosmic Wave a Million Light years Long

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A Naval Research Laboratory scientist is part of a team that has recently discovered that vast clouds of hot gas are “sloshing” in Abell 2052, a galaxy cluster located about 480 million light years from Earth. The scientists are studying the hot (30 million degree) gas using X-ray data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and optical data from the Very Large Telescope to see the galaxies.

The long blue curved streamer you see above is a wave of extraordinarily hot gas (30 million degrees C!) over a million light years long that got “sloshed” around by the cluster’s gravity. Keep in mind that the Milky Way is 100,000 light years across, 1/10th as big as that wave!

Abell 2052 is a galaxy located in the constellation Serpens, about 480 million light years from Earth. This image was captured using X-rays from Chandra X-ray Observatory and optical data from the Very Large Telescope.

(via dailygalaxy)