Isro’s Astrosat captures image of galaxy cluster located 800 mn light years away

Chennai, July 3: India's first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory Astrosat has taken an image of a space galaxy cluster which is located over 800 million light years away from Earth, the Times of India reported.

The distant galaxy cluster, Abell 2256, is made of three separate clusters of galaxies that are merging with each other to form a single massive structure, the report said.

Isro (Indian Space Research Organisation) has posted the details and an ultraviolet view of the object, saying this is the most distant APOM (Astrosat Picture of the Month) so far, the report added.

"Isro says the merger of this extremely well studied galaxy cluster has produced a rich diversity of structures that have been imaged in radio wavelengths by every radio telescope in the world," the Times of India report said.

It was said that the astronomers used Ultra Violet Imaging Telescope (UVIT), one of the five instruments in Astrosat to capture images of these galaxies. Astrosat was launched in September 2015.

"The fine detail with which the entire galaxy cluster could be imaged out to its edges by UVIT is keeping astronomers busy over the last few months. They are investigating the nature of individual galaxies in Abell 2256. They also hope to understand how these galaxies will transform into lenticular and elliptical galaxies in the future," the Times of India report cited a post on the Isro website a saying.