Chandra Release - August 15, 2012

Visual Description: Phoenix Cluster

 This multipanel image features an X-ray, UV, optical composite on the left and an artist’s illustration on the right of the galaxy cluster Phoenix Cluster (SPT-CLJ2344-4243).   In the composite image, the cluster appears as a fuzzy, glowing purple blob surrounded by small colored specks (which are mostly galaxies) on a dark background. Toward the center, you see a region with a more intense purple glow enveloping a compact, bright tonality. This composite includes an X-ray image from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory in purple, an optical image from the 4m Blanco telescope in red, green and blue, and an ultraviolet (UV) image from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) in blue. The Chandra data show hot gas in the cluster and the optical and UV images show galaxies in the cluster and in nearby parts of the sky.  The hot gas in Phoenix is giving off copious amounts of X-rays and cooling quickly over time, especially near the center of the cluster, causing gas to flow inwards and form huge numbers of stars at the base of the flows. These features are shown in this artist's impression of the central galaxy, with hot gas shown in red, cooler gas shown in blue, the gas flows shown by ribbon-like features extending outwards, and the newly formed stars in blue, in the outer part of the galaxy.