Galaxy Clusters in Pisces
(Roll over image for labels)
This image includes three distant galaxy clusters listed in Abell's catalog. These three clusters are very far away, probably about 2 billion light years. This is roughly 1000 times farther away than the Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31), the nearest spiral galaxy to us. It is not surprising that these galaxies are very small and hard to differentiate from stars. The galaxies appear a little fuzzier than stars, and some are oblong.
Rolling over the image gives labels to show where the three clusters are: Abell 64 to the lower left, Abell 65 in about the center, and Abell 67 to the upper right. (North is to the right in this image.) The Abell catalog lists the three clusters as having 73, 93, and 86 member galaxies, respectively. The galaxies are a little easier to see in these larger scale images.
Abell 65:
| Distance (light yrs) | 2 billion |
| Right Ascension | 00:36.9 |
| Declination | +19 05 |
| Field of View | 32' x 24' |
Image details: Exposure times of 63 minutes luminance and 33 minutes each of red, green and blue, taken with an SBIG STF-8300M imager and a 14" Meade telescope at f/5.5.
December 2021