| Abell 370 | |
|---|---|
Abell 370 seen by the Hubble Space Telescope on 16 July 2009. |
|
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
| Right ascension | 02h 39m 48s[1] |
| Declination | −1° 35′ 00″[1] |
| See also: Galaxy, List of galaxies | |
Abell 370 is a galaxy cluster located approximately 6 billion light years away from the Earth (at redshift z=0.375), in the constellation Cetus. Its core is made up of several hundred galaxies. It was catalogued by George Abell, and is the most distant of the clusters he catalogued.
Contents |
Abell 370 appears to include several arcs of light, which in fact are mirages caused by gravitational lensing of more distant objects. [2]
In 2002, astronomers used this lensing effect to discover a galaxy, HCM-6A, 12.8 billion light years away from Earth. At the time it was the furthest known galaxy. [3]
In 2009, study in the field of Abell 370 revealed a grouping of background galaxies lensed and distorted by the cluster into an arc with the appearance of a dragon, hence nicknamed The Dragon[4] by NASA scientists.[5] Its head is composed of a spiral galaxy,[6] with another spiral composing the tail. Several other galaxies form the body of the dragon, all overlapping.[7] These galaxies all lie approximately 10 billion light years away.[8]