XMMXCS 2215-1738 is a

galaxy cluster A galaxy cluster, or a cluster of galaxies, is a structure that consists of anywhere from hundreds to thousands of galaxies that are bound together by gravity, with typical masses ranging from 1014 to 1015 solar masses. They are the second-la ...

that lies 10 billion

light-year A light-year, alternatively spelled light year, is a large unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equivalent to about 9.46 trillion kilometers (), or 5.88 trillion miles ().One trillion here is taken to be 101 ...

s away and has a

redshift In physics, a redshift is an increase in the wavelength, and corresponding decrease in the frequency and photon energy, of electromagnetic radiation (such as light). The opposite change, a decrease in wavelength and simultaneous increase in f ...

value of z=1.45. It was discovered by the

XMM Cluster Survey The XMM Cluster Survey (XCS) is a serendipitous X-ray galaxy cluster survey being conducted using archival data taken by ESA’s XMM-Newton satellite. Galaxy clusters trace the large scale structure of the universe, and their number density evolutio ...

in 2006.http://www.physorg.com/news68820846.html ''Massive galaxy cluster found 10 billion light years away'' June 6th, 2006, ''Space & Earth'' magazine Discovered in 2006, XMMXCS 2215-1738 is one of the most distant galaxy clusters known. It is embedded in

intergalactic gas Outer space, commonly shortened to space, is the expanse that exists beyond Earth and its atmosphere and between celestial bodies. Outer space is not completely empty—it is a near-perfect vacuum containing a low density of particles, predo ...

that has a temperature of 10 million degrees. The estimated mass of the cluster is 500 trillion

solar mass The solar mass () is a standard unit of mass in astronomy, equal to approximately . It is often used to indicate the masses of other stars, as well as stellar clusters, nebulae, galaxies and black holes. It is approximately equal to the mass o ...

es, most coming from

dark matter Dark matter is a hypothetical form of matter thought to account for approximately 85% of the matter in the universe. Dark matter is called "dark" because it does not appear to interact with the electromagnetic field, which means it does not ab ...

. The cluster was discovered and studied using the ''

XMM-Newton ''XMM-Newton'', also known as the High Throughput X-ray Spectroscopy Mission and the X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission, is an X-ray space observatory launched by the European Space Agency in December 1999 on an Ariane 5 rocket. It is the second cornerst ...

'' and

Keck Telescope The W. M. Keck Observatory is an astronomical observatory with two telescopes at an elevation of 4,145 meters (13,600 ft) near the summit of Mauna Kea in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Both telescopes have aperture primary mirrors, and when co ...

s. The cluster is surprisingly large and evolved for a cluster that existed when the

universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the universe. A ...

was only 3 billion years old. Led by

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

researchers, part of the

(XCS) used X-ray Multi Mirror (XMM) Newton satellite to find it, Keck Telescope to determine distance, and used the

Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most ver ...

to further image it. It contains hundreds of reddish galaxies surrounded by x-ray-emitting gas."Galaxy Cluster Most Distant from Earth Found, June 5, 2006, UC DAVIS
/ref> The galaxy is called XMMXCS 2215-1734 in many references, with some news sources listing both names. The source of the naming contradiction between XMMXCS 2215-1734 and XMMXCS 2215-1738 is not known. However, XMMXCS 2215-1738 seems to be the more accurate.

References

Most Distant Galaxy Cluster Found 10 Billion light-years Away

( XCS)
The XMM Cluster Survey: A Massive Galaxy Cluster at z=1.45

S. A. Stanford S is the nineteenth letter of the English alphabet. S may also refer to: History * an Anglo-Saxon charter's number in Peter Sawyer's, catalogue Language and linguistics * Long s (ſ), a form of the lower-case letter s formerly used where "s ...

(arXiv preprint) Sun, 4 Jun 2006 16:23:55 GMT

External links

Astronomers Find Most Distant Galaxy Cluster Yet
(SpaceDaily) Jun 7, 2006

Christine L. Kulyk (SPACE.com) 8 June 2006 06:20 am ET Galaxy clusters Aquarius (constellation) {{galaxy-cluster-stub

See also

References

External links