Chandra Release - September 27, 2018

Visual Description: Abell 2142

A two-panel of images of galaxy cluster Abell 2142 showcases X-ray and optical data with a full field composite on left and a closeup X-ray only on right. The color scheme is a bright purple with dots of white and a bit of red, all on a black background. A massive, bright core dominates the full field galaxy cluster image in a slight comet shape at the bottom, glowing in X-rays from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. Above and to the left of this intense heart is a more patchy segment of X-ray emission in a shuttlecock shape with a bright white tip. Chandra data reveal this to be a galaxy group, consisting of a handful of galaxies, that is plummeting into Abell 2142. Behind this descending galaxy group is a long tail of X-ray emission made up of million-degree gas. This X-ray tail helps astronomers better understand how these giant galactic systems evolve.