ESO: A Cluster and a Sea of Galaxies

[bystander]

A Cluster and a Sea of Galaxies
eso1019 - 05 May 2010

A new wide-field image released today by ESO displays many thousands of distant galaxies, and more particularly a large group belonging to the massive galaxy cluster known as Abell 315. As crowded as it may appear, this assembly of galaxies is only the proverbial “tip of the iceberg”, as Abell 315 — like most galaxy clusters — is dominated by dark matter. The huge mass of this cluster deflects light from background galaxies, distorting their observed shapes slightly.

When looking at the sky with the unaided eye, we mostly only see stars within our Milky Way galaxy and some of its closest neighbours. More distant galaxies are just too faint to be perceived by the human eye, but if we could see them, they would literally cover the sky. This new image released by ESO is both a wide-field and long-exposure one, and reveals thousands of galaxies crowding an area on the sky roughly as large as the full Moon.

The Cluster of Galaxies Abell 315 (ESO/J. Dietrich)

This wide-field, deep image reveals thousands of galaxies crowding an area on the sky roughly as large as the full Moon. These galaxies span a vast range of distances from us. Some are relatively close, as it is possible to distinguish their spiral arms or elliptical halos, especially in the upper part of the image. The more distant, instead, appear just like faint blobs — their light has travelled through the Universe for eight billion years or more before reaching Earth. Beginning in the centre of the image and extending below and to the left, a concentration of about a hundred yellowish galaxies identifies a massive galaxy cluster, designated Abell 315, about two billion light-years away from us. To complement the enormous range of cosmic distances and sizes surveyed by this image, a handful of objects much smaller than galaxies and galaxy clusters and much closer to Earth are dotted throughout the field: besides several stars, many asteroids are also visible as blue, green or red trails.

This image has been taken with the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile. It is a composite of several exposures acquired using three different broadband filters, for a total of almost one hour in the B filter and about one and a half hour in the V and R filters. The field of view is 34 x 33 arcminutes.

Zoomable Image

[bystander]

A thousand trillion suns
Bad Astronomy - 05 May 2010

What does it look like to stare into infinity?

[Hofi]

I like these deep images! They tell us a lot about our past!

[neufer]

A thousand trillion suns
Bad Astronomy - 05 May 2010

What does it look like to stare into infinity?

• A stare crossed glover
  
  
  ----------------------------------
  . Romeo and Juliet - Act 2, Scene 2
  
  JULIET___ My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
  ___ My love as deep; the more I give to thee,
  ___ The more I have, for both are INFINITE.
  ----------------------------------
  . Hamlet, Prince of Denmark - Act 2, Scene 2
  
  HAMLET___ O God, I could be bounded in a nut shell and count
  ___ myself a king of INFINITE space, were it not that I
  ___ have bad dreams.
  
  HAMLET___ The earth, seems to me a sterile promontory, this most
  ___ excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave
  ___ o'erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted
  ___ with golden fire, why, it appears no other thing to
  ___ me than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours.
  ___ What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason!
  ___ how INFINITE in faculty! in form and moving how
  ___ express and admirable! in action how like an angel!
  ___ in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the
  ___ world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me,
  ___ what is this quintessence of dust?
  
  - Act 5, Scene 1
  
  HAMLET___ Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow
  ___ of INFINITE jest, of most excellent fancy:
  ----------------------------------
  . Measure for Measure - Act 1, Scene 4
  
  LUCIO___ His givings-out were of an INFINITE distance
  ___ From his true-meant design.
  ----------------------------------
  . Much Ado About Nothing - Act 2, Scene 3
  
  LEONATO___ It is past the INFINITE of thought.
  ----------------------------------
  . Antony and Cleopatra - Act 1, Scene 2
  
  Soothsayer___ In nature's INFINITE book of secrecy
  ___ A little I can read.
  
  - Act 2, Scene 2
  
  DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS___ Never; he will not:
  ___ Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale
  ___ Her INFINITE variety:
  ----------------------------------
  . King John - Act 4, Scene 3
  
  BASTARD___ Here's a good world! Knew you of this fair work?
  ___ Beyond the INFINITE and boundless reach
  ___ Of mercy, if thou didst this deed of death,
  ___ Art thou damn'd, Hubert.
  ----------------------------------
  . King Henry IV, Part i - Act 5, Scene 1
  
  KING HENRY IV___ And, Prince of Wales, so dare we venture thee,
  ___ Albeit considerations INFINITE
  ___ Do make against it.
  ----------------------------------
  . King Henry VIII - Act 3, Scene 1
  
  CARDINAL WOLSEY___ Your hopes and friends are INFINITE.
  ----------------------------------
  . The Two Gentlemen of Verona - Act 2, Scene 1
  
  VALENTINE___ I mean that her beauty is exquisite, but her favour INFINITE.
  
  - Act 2, Scene 7
  
  JULIA___ A thousand oaths, an ocean of his tears
  ___ And instances of INFINITE of love
  ----------------------------------
  . The Comedy of Errors - Act 5, Scene 1
  
  ANGELO___ Of very reverend reputation, sir,
  ___ Of credit INFINITE, highly beloved,
  ----------------------------------
  . The Merchant of Venice - Act 1, Scene 1
  
  BASSANIO___ Gratiano speaks an INFINITE deal of nothing, more
  ___ than any man in all Venice. His reasons are as two
  ___ grains of wheat hid in two bushels of chaff: you
  ___ shall seek all day ere you find them, and when you
  ___ have them, they are not worth the search.
  ----------------------------------
  . Troilus and Cressida - Act 2, Scene 2
  
  TROILUS___ will you with counters sum
  ___ The past proportion of his INFINITE?
  ___ And buckle in a waist most fathomless
  ___ With spans and inches so diminutive?
  
  - Act 3, Scene 2
  
  TROILUS___ This is the monstruosity in love, lady, that the will
  ___ is INFINITE and the execution confined, that the
  ___ desire is boundless and the act a slave to limit.
  
  - Act 4, Scene 4
  
  CRESSIDA___ O, you shall be exposed, my lord, to dangers
  ___ As INFINITE as imminent! but I'll be true.
  
  - Act 4, Scene 5
  
  AENEAS___ The one almost as INFINITE as all,
  ___ The other blank as nothing.
  ----------------------------------
  . The Winter's Tale - Act 1, Scene 2
  
  CAMILLO___ I may be negligent, foolish and fearful;
  ___ In every one of these no man is free,
  ___ But that his negligence, his folly, fear,
  ___ Among the INFINITE doings of the world,
  ___ Sometime puts forth.
  ----------------------------------
  . Titus Andronicus - Act 5, Scene 3
  
  MARCUS ANDRONICUS___ Countless and INFINITE!
  -------------------------------------

[owlice]

neufer, you have recovered very nicely from your Bard of Stratford quote drought, I see. Congratuations!

[neufer]

neufer, you have recovered very nicely from your Bard of Stratford [@ Bowe] quote drought, I see. Congratuations!

The Baker House irregulars came through nicely, thank you VERy much!