Thursday, 26 November 2015

Gravity's Grin


Gravity's Grin
Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, published 100 years ago this month, predicted the phenomenon of gravitational lensing. And that's what gives these distant galaxies such a whimsical appearance, seen through the looking glass of X-ray and optical image data from the Chandra and Hubble space telescopes.

Nicknamed the Cheshire Cat galaxy group, the group's two large elliptical galaxies are suggestively framed by arcs. The arcs are optical images of distant background galaxies lensed by the foreground group's total distribution of gravitational mass dominated by dark matter. In fact the two large elliptical "eye" galaxies represent the brightest members of their own galaxy groups which are merging.

Their relative collisional speed of nearly 1,350 kilometers/second heats gas to millions of degrees producing the X-ray glow shown in purple hues. Curiouser about galaxy group mergers? The Cheshire Cat group grins in the constellation Ursa Major, some 4.6 billion light-years away.

Imag & info via APOD
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
Image Credit: X-ray - NASA / CXC / J. Irwin et al. ; Optical - NASA/STScI

#chesirecat   #nasa   #gravity   #space
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25 comments:

  1. Lydell Aaron26 November 2015 at 22:54

    I love your topics. I'd like to share this with you. https://www.facebook.com/Human-Dynamics-1512350189057679/?ref=hl

    ReplyDelete
  2. Richard Polk26 November 2015 at 23:42

    Chris looks like a giant :-) in space thank you

    ReplyDelete
  3. Piera Coppola27 November 2015 at 00:32

    Before I read your post, it was the picture that caught my eye. I thought it was digital art of a cheshire space-cat or something. Secretly pleased to learn that a Cheshire Cat galaxy group exists

    ReplyDelete
  4. Boris Borcic27 November 2015 at 02:55

    Illustrates a weak version of almightiness, you can't guarantee that detailing any new piece of wilderness will not make you see the likeness of something familiar and tame.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jacqueline Hernandez27 November 2015 at 06:08

    That is exsiding

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jacqueline Hernandez27 November 2015 at 06:09

    Its cool

    ReplyDelete
  7. Kevin Mcgee27 November 2015 at 06:16

    That's real pretty

    ReplyDelete
  8. Daddysgirlzariah Rodriquez27 November 2015 at 07:10

    Wow !

    ReplyDelete
  9. Jian Piano27 November 2015 at 11:50

    I love the Universe/space/planet's/and a new life :')

    ReplyDelete
  10. Jacqueline Hernandez27 November 2015 at 12:09

    Me to

    ReplyDelete
  11. Елена Носкова27 November 2015 at 12:47

    И я

    ReplyDelete
  12. Desiree DeLuca27 November 2015 at 14:58

    That's cool

    ReplyDelete
  13. Desiree DeLuca27 November 2015 at 14:59

    Cool I like it

    ReplyDelete
  14. Alicia Ramirez27 November 2015 at 17:52

    It is so cool. I love the colors

    ReplyDelete
  15. Louis Brown27 November 2015 at 22:11

    That looks cool

    ReplyDelete
  16. Liberty Somers28 November 2015 at 17:30

    Its alive

    ReplyDelete
  17. Liberty Somers28 November 2015 at 17:31

    Khoa To YAS

    ReplyDelete
  18. Diana Kaledo29 November 2015 at 07:10

    I SEE A SMILEY!!!! XD🙌🙌🙌

    ReplyDelete
  19. Naruto Usimaki29 November 2015 at 22:39

    Yes😁XD

    ReplyDelete
  20. Carlos Vega30 November 2015 at 03:09

    so cool !!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Carlos Vega30 November 2015 at 03:10

    so cool !! emo-stars :) :0

    ReplyDelete
  22. amelia olague30 November 2015 at 08:41

    so Awesome

    ReplyDelete
  23. Kim DeBerry30 November 2015 at 12:01

    grape kool aid guy

    ReplyDelete
  24. Cornelius Robinson3 December 2015 at 13:33

    Real

    ReplyDelete
  25. Ruth Jackson5 December 2015 at 12:33

    Find.Black carcus

    ReplyDelete

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