The Coma Cluster of Galaxies
Credit:
O. Lopez-Cruz and I. K. Shelton
(U. Toronto),
Kitt Peak National Obs.
Almost every object in the above photograph
is a galaxy. The Coma Cluster of Galaxies
pictured is one of the densest clusters
known - it contains thousands of galaxies.
Each of these galaxies house billions of stars - just as our
own Milky Way Galaxy does. Although nearby
when compared to most other clusters, light from the Coma Cluster
still takes hundreds of millions of years to reach us. In fact,
the Coma Cluster
is so big it takes light millions of years just to go from one
side to the other! Most galaxies in Coma and other clusters
are ellipticals, while most galaxies
outside of clusters are spirals.
The nature of Coma's X-ray emission
is still being investigated.