COLLECTION NAME:
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day Collection
Record
Title:
Abell 3627 in the Great Attractor
Explanation:
Are these galaxies near the center of the largest gravitationally bound concentration of mass yet known? Previously, the cluster of galaxies [ http://antwrp.gsfc.… ] known as Abell 3627 was largely unstudied because dust [ http://antwrp.gsfc.… ] in the disk [ http://antwrp.gsfc.… ] of our own Galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.… ] obscured much of its light. Several galaxies from Abell 3627 appear above as fuzzy blue patches behind many stars in our Galaxy. Recent observations [ http://www.america.… ] by Renee Kraan-Korteweg (Paris Observatory [ http://mesiop.obspm… ]) and collaborators, however, indicate that this cluster of galaxies is near the center of the huge nearby conglomeration of mass known as the Great Attractor [ http://www.ncsa.uiu… ]. Evidence for this was uncovered in new accurate measurements of the large extent and nearby distance of Abell 3627.
Credit and Copyright:
Digitized Sky Survey (ROE [ http://www.roe.ac.u… ]), SkyView [ http://skview.gsfc.… ]
facet_where:
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
UID:
SPD-APOD-ap960218