Dark energy camera captures sparkling galaxies in the Antria star cluster

NSF NOIRLab captures glittering galactic landscapes captured by a Department of Energy-built dark energy camera mounted on the National Science Foundation’s Victor M. Blanco 4-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory in Chile. We welcome the new year. This ultra-deep view of the Antria galaxy cluster from NSF NOIRLab reveals a surprising variety of galaxies among the hundreds of galaxies that make up the cluster.

Galaxy clusters are some of the largest known structures in the known universe. Current models suggest that these giant structures form as clumps of dark matter, and the galaxies that form within them are pulled together by gravity to form groups of dozens of galaxies, which then merge to form groups of hundreds of galaxies. , even suggesting the formation of thousands of galaxy clusters.

One such group is the Antria star cluster (Abel S636), located about 130 million light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Antria (Air Pump).

Several NOIRLab programs have contributed to observations of the Antria star cluster over the past 20 years. Chilean scientists used both the Blanco telescope (with its predecessor camera MOSAIC II) and the Gemini South telescope, half of the International Gemini Observatory operated by NSF NOIRLab, to study the star cluster through the Antria Star Cluster project .

In recent years, researchers have studied the cluster from space and ground-based observatories. These collaborative studies have revealed a dynamic community of rarer types of galaxies within the cluster.

The Antolia cluster is dominated by two giant elliptical galaxies, NGC 3268 and NGC 3258. These central galaxies are surrounded by numerous faint galaxies. Researchers believe these two galaxies are merging based on X-ray observations that reveal a “rope” of globular clusters along the peak region of light between them. . This may be evidence that the Antlia cluster is actually two smaller clusters joined together.

The cluster is rich in lenticular galaxies (a type of disk galaxy with little interstellar medium and therefore little ongoing star formation), as well as some irregular galaxies. Many rarer, lower-luminosity dwarf galaxies have been discovered in this cluster, including ultracompact dwarfs, compact elliptical galaxies, and blue compact dwarfs. This cluster may also contain subtypes of dwarf spheroidal and superdiffuse galaxies, but further investigation is needed to confirm these.

Many of these galaxy types have been discovered within the last few decades, as advances in observational equipment and data analysis techniques have allowed us to better capture the low luminosity and relatively small size of these galaxies. It has just been identified.

Assessing galaxy types allows astronomers to plot details of galaxy evolution, and some galaxies are rich in dark matter, helping astronomers understand this mysterious material that makes up 25% of the universe. provides further opportunities to

With the development of large, highly sensitive cameras like DECam, astronomers are now able to detect subtler details of these superstructures, such as the scattered light between galaxy clusters, a combination of intracluster light, and stars that gravitate out into space. You can now see a weak glow. The churning of interacting galaxies changes the cluster’s field, as well as the extinguished light from the nearby Antria supernova remnant discovered in 2002.

The upcoming Space-Time Heritage Survey by the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory will be the first astronomical survey to provide scientists with the data they need to detect intracluster light in thousands of galaxy clusters, and will provide information about the surroundings of galaxy clusters. Clues about the distribution of dark matter are revealed. and the large-scale evolutionary history of the universe.