BULLET CLUSTER

3.4 billion light-years

As galaxies collide, so do clusters of galaxies. The Bullet Cluster is a result of two clusters colliding - an event that released more energy than anything since the big bang. Visible light images from the Magellan and Hubble Space Telescopes show the clusters, while pink areas show the x-ray emission from colliding hot gases detected by the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The blue patches show where most of the mass lies in the clusters - the invisible so-called dark matter.

Credit: Image made in x-ray light by M. Markevitch for NASA / CXC / CFA and in visible light by D. Clowe et al. for NASA / STScI, Magellan / U. Arizona and ESO.

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