Astronomy:Musket Ball Cluster

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Short description: Collision of two galaxy clusters in the constellation Cancer

Coordinates: Sky map 09h 16m 10.9s, +29° 48′ 44″

Musket Ball Cluster
Musketball Cluster.jpg
Observation data (Epoch J2000.0[1])
Constellation(s)Cancer
Right ascension 09h 16m 10.9s[1]
Declination+29° 48′ 44″[1]
Redshift0.53[2]
Other designations
Musket Ball Cluster,[3] DLSCL J0916.2+2951,[2] SHELS J0916.2+2949[1]
See also: Galaxy group, Galaxy cluster, List of galaxy groups and clusters

The Musket Ball Cluster (DLSCL J0916.2+2951) is a galaxy cluster that exhibits separation between its baryonic matter and dark matter components. The cluster is a recent merger of two galaxy clusters. It is named after the Bullet Cluster, as it is a slower collision, and older than the Bullet Cluster. This cluster is further along the process of merger than the Bullet Cluster,[3] being some 500 million years older, at 700 million years old.[4] The cluster was discovered in 2011 by the Deep Lens Survey.[2] As of 2012, it is one of the few galaxy clusters to show separation between its dark matter and baryonic matter components.[5]

Characteristics

As of 2012, it is one of seven galaxy clusters that exhibit separation of dark matter and baryonic matter following cluster collision and merger.[3] The separation between the galaxies and their dark matter components is on average 19,000 light-years (5,800 pc). This separation may indicate that dark matter may interact with itself, through a dark force (a force that only interacts with dark matter) or a set of dark forces.[6] The galaxy cluster itself is some 8 million light-years (2.5 Mpc) across.[7]

See also

Other dissociative galaxy cluster mergers known at time of discovery

References

External links