Hubble Space Telescope has shared yet another striking image that shows two large galaxies that are part of the Perseus cluster with starfield in the backdrop. The galaxies are 2MASX J03193743+4137580 can be seen on the left side of the image, while UGC 2665 can be seen on the right side.
The Perseus cluster is huge in size, featuring thousands of galaxies, and is one of the most massive objects known to exist in the universe. It also spews large quantities of X-rays, making it the brightest cluster in the cosmos when observed using X-ray wavelength. X-ray data from this cluster also came in handy for the development of theories of dark matter.
Perseus cluster source of many theories
The name of the cluster is derived from a mythological figure, just as many astronomical objects in the universe. “Perseus is an important figure in Greek mythology, renowned for slaying Medusa the Gorgon — who is herself famous for the unhappy reason that she was cursed to have living snakes for hair,” as per Hubble scientists.
“Given Perseus’s impressive credentials, it seems appropriate that the galaxy cluster is one of the biggest objects in the known universe, consisting of thousands of galaxies, only a few of which are visible in this image. The wonderful detail in the image is thanks to the WFC3’s powerful resolution and sensitivity to both visible and near-infrared light, the wavelengths captured in this image.”
The Hubble trouble
Hubble’s team recently shared a ‘patriotic’ image that had red, white, and blue colors to complement the occasion of Independence Day. The image showed an open star cluster — NGC 330 that belongs to the Small Magellanic Cloud around 180,000 light-years from our Earth.
Unfortunately, the legendary Hubble Space Telescope is currently in safe mode and is not functional. The telescope’s main payload and backup computer are undergoing the same glitch preventing it from functioning. This might be the end of Hubble’s 30-year-long operation.
The ground team is constantly trying to turn to other hardware of the telescope that would allow the telescope to continue observation. The observations made by the telescope have helped astronomers over the years to observe distant objects of the cosmos.
