3C295

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Chandra X-ray
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3C295: A large galaxy in the center of a cluster of galaxies located in the constellation Boötes.
(Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO)

Caption: NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory image of the distant galaxy 3C295 shows an explosive galaxy enveloped by a vast cloud of fifty million degree gas. The gas cloud, which is visible only with an X-ray telescope, contains more than a hundred galaxies and enough material to make a thousand more. The galaxies are too cool to be visible in X rays. Roughly two million light years in diameter, the cloud and its cluster of galaxies are among the most massive objects in the universe. It is so distant that we see it as it was five billion years ago.

Scale: Image is 42 arcsec on a side.

Chandra X-ray Observatory ACIS Image

CXC operated for NASA by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
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