The Fornax Cluster of Galaxies
Image Credit &
Copyright:
Marcelo Rivera
Named for the southern
constellation
toward which most of its galaxies can be found, the
Fornax
Cluster is one of the closest clusters of galaxies.
About 62 million light-years away, it's over 20 times more
distant than our neighboring
Andromeda Galaxy, but
only about 10 percent farther along than the better known and more
populated Virgo Galaxy Cluster.
Seen across
this three degree wide
field-of-view, almost every
yellowish splotch on the image is an elliptical galaxy in the
Fornax cluster.
Elliptical galaxies
NGC 1399 and NGC
1404
are the dominant, bright cluster members toward the bottom center.
A standout, large barred spiral galaxy,
NGC 1365,
is visible on the upper right as a prominent Fornax cluster member.