Cosmic fireflies: Galaxy Cluster Abell 2163 in Ophiuchus | Hubble Space Telescope
Galaxies glow like fireflies in this NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope image. This flickering swarm of cosmic fireflies is a rich cluster of galaxies called Abell 2163. Abell 2163 is a member of the Abell catalog, an all-sky catalog of over 4,000 galaxy clusters. It is particularly well-studied because the material sitting at its core (its intracluster medium) exhibits exceptional properties, including a large and bright radio halo and extraordinarily high temperatures and x-ray luminosities. It is the hottest cluster in the catalog. Observing massive clusters like Abell 2163 can contribute to the study of dark matter, and provide a new perspective on the distant Universe via phenomena, such as gravitational lensing.
Distance from Earth: 3 billion light years
This image was taken by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys and Wide-Field Camera 3, partially for an extensive observing program called RELICS. The program was imaging 41 massive galaxy clusters to find the brightest distant galaxies.
Release Date: Dec. 11, 2017
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