New Image: Abell1656 The Coma Cluster

[ic_1101]

The Coma Cluster (Abell 1656) is a large cluster of galaxies that contains over 1,000 identified galaxies. Along with the Leo Cluster (Abell 1367), it is one of the two major clusters comprising the Coma Supercluster. It is located in and takes its name from the constellation Coma Berenices.
The cluster's mean distance from Earth is 99 Mpc (321 million light years). The central region is dominated by two supergiant elliptical galaxies: NGC 4874 and NGC 4889. The cluster is within a few degrees of the north galactic pole on the sky. Most of the galaxies that inhabit the central portion of the Coma Cluster are ellipticals. Both dwarf and giant ellipticals are found in abundance in the Coma Cluster. As is usual for clusters of this richness, the galaxies are overwhelmingly elliptical and S0 galaxies, with only a few spirals of younger age, and many of them probably near the outskirts of the cluster.
The Coma Cluster is one of the first places where observed gravitational anomalies were considered to be indicative of unobserved mass. In 1933 Fritz Zwicky showed that the galaxies of the Coma Cluster were moving too fast for the cluster to be bound together by the visible matter of its galaxies. Though the idea of dark matter would not be accepted for another fifty years, Zwicky wrote that the galaxies must be held together by some dunkle Materie. About 90% of the mass of the Coma cluster is believed to be in the form of dark matter. However, the distribution of dark matter throughout the cluster is poorly constrained.
(c) Wikipedia

I was fortunate to have a whole night of clear skies with average seeing and managed to capture 7hrs20min (220x120sec subs) on this target using the EdgeHD11 (.7x reducer) with the QHY268C.
Thx for checking it out and as always your C&C are much appreciated.
Cheers
Alex

[bernhardhubl]

Hello Alex,

Beautiful image of the Coma Galaxy Cluster!
Very nice details

best,
Bernhard

[Juno16]

A really gorgeous image of these many very distant galaxies.
Your description is wonderful and really makes me appreciate depth of your capture.
Super capture and process Alex! Very, very well done!

[MariusD69]

Awesome! Great job, Alex!!

[Makuser]

Hi Alex. A very nice image of the Abell1656 Coma Cluster. Excellent contrast, well framed, and you grabbed a lot of galaxies in your capture. Thanks for sharing this latest work with us on here Alex and the best of wishes for many clear skies.

[starfield]

Fantastic shot. So many galaxies in this frame..

[Ylem]

Very nice image Alex!

[messier 111]

love it , thx .

[bobharmony]

Great shot, Alex! I am working a wider field version of this, and you inspire me to go out and collect more time on it.

Bob

[Gordon]

Congratulations Alex on having your image selected as todays TSS APOD!

https://theskysearchers.com/app.php/art ... of-the-day

[jthommes]

Great shot Alex! Congrats on the APOD.

[ic_1101]

Congratulations Alex on having your image selected as todays TSS APOD!

https://theskysearchers.com/app.php/art ... of-the-day

Thank you Gordon for the TSS APOD.

Thx everyone for your positive feedback, it’s always appreciated.