Galactic cauldron

Thank you for rating! You have already rated this page, you can only rate it once! Your rating has been changed, thanks for rating! - Title Hot gas sloshing in a galactic cauldron Released 18/11/2013 9:57 am Copyright E. O'Sullivan & ESA Description - Galaxies are social beasts that are mostly found in groups or clusters - large assemblies of galaxies that are permeated by even larger amounts of diffuse gas. With temperatures of 10 million degrees or more, the gas in galaxy groups and clusters is hot enough to shine brightly in X-rays and be detected by ESA's XMM-Newton X-ray observatory. As galaxies speed through these gigantic cauldrons, they occasionally jumble the gas and forge it into lop-sided shapes. An example is revealed in this composite image of the galaxy group NGC 5044, the brightest group in X-rays in the entire sky. The group is named after the massive and bright elliptical galaxy at its centre, surrounded by tens of smaller spiral and dwarf galaxies. The galaxies are shown in a combination of optical images from the Digitized Sky Survey with infrared and ultraviolet images from NASA's WISE and Galex satellites, respectively. Foreground stars are also sprinkled across the image.