Chandra Release - October 22, 2009

Visual Description: JKCS041

The image features a galaxy cluster, JKCS041, which appears as a bright blue diffuse blob in the center of the frame. The galaxy cluster is surrounded by smaller dots of light, mostly other galaxies, which are shown in various shades of blue and yellow.  The galaxy cluster has a flattened round shape.  This is a composite image of the most distant galaxy cluster detected at the time of observation. It contains X-rays from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory (in blue), optical data from the Very Large Telescope (VLT) and optical and infrared data from the Digitized Sky Survey (both combined in white and yellow). This record-breaking object is observed as it was when the Universe was just one quarter of its current age.