These four galaxy clusters were part of a large
survey of over 300 clusters used to investigate dark energy, the
mysterious energy that is currently driving the accelerating expansion
of the Universe, as described in our latest press release.
In these composite images, X-rays from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory
(purple) have been combined with optical light from the Hubble Space
Telescope and Sloan Digital Sky Survey (red, green, and blue).
Researchers used a novel technique that takes advantage of the
observation that the outer reaches of galaxy clusters, the largest
structures in the universe held together by gravity, show similarity in
their X-ray emission
profiles and sizes. That is, more massive clusters are simply scaled up
versions of less massive ones, similar to Russian dolls that nest
inside one another.
The amount of matter in the Universe, which is dominated by the unseen substance called dark matter,
and the properties of dark energy (what astronomers call cosmological
parameters) affect the rate of expansion of the Universe and, therefore,
how the distances to objects change with time. If the cosmological
parameters used are incorrect and a cluster is inferred to be traveling
away faster than the correct value, then a cluster will appear to be
larger and fainter due to this "Russian doll" property. If the cluster
is inferred to be traveling away more slowly than the correct value, the
cluster will be smaller and brighter than a cluster according to
theory.
These latest results confirm earlier studies that the amount of dark
energy has not changed over billions of years. They also support the
idea that dark energy is best explained by the "cosmological constant,"
which Einstein first proposed and is equivalent to the energy of empty
space.
The galaxy clusters in this large sample ranged in distance from about 760 million to 8.7 billion light years
from Earth, providing astronomers with information about the era where
dark energy caused the once-decelerating expansion of the Universe to
accelerate.
The X-ray emission in the outer parts of galaxy clusters is faint
because the gas is diffuse there. To deal with this issue in this study,
the X-ray signal from different clusters was added together. Regions
near the centers of the clusters are excluded from the analysis because
of large differences between the properties of different clusters caused
by supermassive black hole outbursts, the cooling of gas and the formation of stars.
A paper describing these results by Andrea Morandi and Ming Sun
(University of Alabama at Huntsville) appeared in the April 11th, 2016
issue of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society journal
and is available online.
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the
Chandra program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts,
controls Chandra's science and flight operations.
Source: NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory
Fast Facts for Abell 1835:
Scale: Image is 3.0 arcmin across. (about 2.3 million light years)
Category: Groups & Clusters of Galaxies, Cosmology/Deep Fields/X-ray Background
Coordinates (J2000): RA 14h 01m 02.30s | Dec +02° 52' 48.00"
Constellation: Virgo
Observation Dates: 7 Dec 2005, 24 Jul and 25 Aug 2006
Observation Time: 192 ks
Obs. IDs: 6880, 6881, 7370
Instrument: ACIS
References: Morandi, A. et al, 2016, MNRAS, 457, 3266; arXiv:1601.03741
Color Code: X-ray (Purple); Optical (Red, Green, Blue)
Distance Estimate: About 3.1 billion light years (z=0.259)
Fast Facts for MS 1455.0+2232:
Scale: Image is 3.3 arcmin across. (about 2.6 million light years)
Category: Groups & Clusters of Galaxies, Cosmology/Deep Fields/X-ray Background
Coordinates (J2000): RA 14h 57m 15.10s | Dec +22° 20' 34.01"
Constellation: Boötes
Observation Dates: 19 May 2000, 05 Sep 2003, 23 Mar 2007
Observation Time: 108 ks
Obs. IDs: 543, 4192, 7709
Instrument: ACIS
References: Morandi, A. et al, 2016, MNRAS, 457, 3266; arXiv:1601.03741
Color Code: X-ray (Purple); Optical (Red, Green, Blue)
Distance Estimate: About 3.1 billion light years (z=0.259)
Fast Facts for RXJ 1347.5-1145:
Scale: Image is 2.2 arcmin across. (about 2.5 million light years)
Category: Groups & Clusters of Galaxies, Cosmology/Deep Fields/X-ray Background
Coordinates (J2000): RA 13h 47m 33.53s | Dec -11° 45' 42.12"
Constellation: Virgo
Observation Dates: 3 Sep 2003, 16 Mar, 14 May and 11 Dec 2012
Observation Time: 214 ks
Obs. IDs: 3592, 13516, 13999, 14407
Instrument: ACIS
References: Morandi, A. et al, 2016, MNRAS, 457, 3266; arXiv:1601.03741
Color Code: X-ray (Purple): Optical (Red, Green, Blue)
Distance Estimate: About 4.7 billion light years (z=0.451)
Fast Facts for ZWCL 3146:
Scale: Image is 2.5 arcmin across. (about 2.1 million light years)
Category: Groups & Clusters of Galaxies, Cosmology/Deep Fields/X-ray Background
Coordinates (J2000): RA 10h 23m 39.63s | Dec +04° 11' 10.36"
Constellation: Sextans
Observation Dates: 10 May 2000, 18 Jan 2008
Observation Time: 82 ks
Obs. IDs: 909, 9371
Instrument: ACIS
References: Morandi, A. et al, 2016, MNRAS, 457, 3266; arXiv:1601.03741
Color Code: X-ray (Purple); Optical (Red, Green, Blue)
Distance Estimate: About 3.3 billion light years (z=0.290)
