Chandra Release - April 12, 2012

Visual Description: DLSCL J0916.2+2951

The image is an X-ray and optical composite of a galaxy cluster called DLSCL J0916.2+295, nicknamed the "Musket Ball" cluster.  The dominant colors in this image are purple-magenta and blue.  The structure of the galaxy cluster can be described as a series of soft, diffuse spots with one to the right of center looking like a large blurry butterfly. A beautiful sprinkling of distant galaxies in gold and white look like tiny stars scattered across a dark sky background. In this composite image, the hot gas observed in X-rays with Chandra is colored in magenta, and the galaxies in the optical image from Hubble appear as mostly white and gold. The location of the majority of the matter in the cluster (dominated by dark matter) is colored blue. When the magenta and the blue regions overlap, the result is purple. The matter distribution is determined by using data from Subaru, Hubble and the Mayall telescopes that reveal the effects of gravitational lensing, an effect predicted by Einstein where large masses can distort the light from distant objects.