NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory Rings in New Year with Champagne Cluster

NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory Rings in New Year with Champagne Cluster

Have a Happy New Year! Celebrate the New Year with the “Champagne Cluster,” a recently discovered galaxy cluster seen in this new image from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and optical telescopes.

Astronomers discovered this galaxy cluster on December 31st, 2020. This date, combined with the bubble-like appearance of the galaxies and of the superheated gas seen with Chandra data, inspired the scientists to nickname the galaxy cluster the Champagne Cluster, a much easier-to-remember name than its official designation of RM J130558.9+263048.4.

The new composite image shows that the Champagne Cluster is actually two galaxy clusters in the process of merging to form an even larger cluster. Multimillion-degree gas in galaxy clusters is usually shaped approximately like a circle in images, but in the Champagne Cluster it is more widely spread from left to right, revealing the presence of the two colliding clusters. There are also two clumps of galaxies towards the left and right of center, making up the two colliding clusters.

The hot gas outweighs the combined mass in all the hundred-plus individual galaxies in the newly forming cluster. There are also large amounts of unseen dark matter, the mysterious substance that pervades the universe, within the cluster.

In addition to the Chandra data, this new image contains optical data from the Legacy Surveys, which consists of three individual and complementary surveys from telescopes in Arizona and Chile.

The Champagne Cluster is a member of a rare class of merging clusters. This includes the well-known Bullet Cluster, where the hot gas in each cluster has collided and slowed down. As in the Bullet Cluster, there is a separation from the hot gas and the most massive galaxy in each cluster, which suggests that the collision between the two clusters was almost head on.

Researchers think by studying the Champagne Cluster further, they can potentially learn more about how dark matter reacts in a high-speed collision.

More info: 
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/chandra/nasas-chandra-rings-in-new-year-with-champagne-cluster/

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory is being canceled in NASA's Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request, along with 18 other active science missions. NASA's science budget is being reduced by nearly 50%. NASA's total budget will become the lowest since 1961, after accounting for inflation.

Contact your representatives in the United States Congress, House and Senate, to express your concerns about severe budget cuts at NASA:

https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials/

NASA's Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request (PDF): https://www.nasa.gov/fy-2026-budget-request/

Video Credit: NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory
Duration: 2 minutes, 36 seconds
Release Date: Dec. 30, 2025

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