images

The Coma cluster (Abell 1656)

by

IPAC/Novapix

Reference

a-amg01-01001

Date

2006-11-05

The Coma cluster (Abell 1656) is a particularly rich cluster of individual galaxies (over 1000 members), most prominently the two giant ellipticals, NGC 4874 (right) and NGC 4889 (left). The remaining members are mostly smaller ellipticals, but spiral galaxies are also evident in this 2MASS image. The cluster is seen toward the constellation Coma Berenices, and is actually at a distance of about 100 Mpc (330 million light years, or a redshift of 0.023) from us. Near infrared image.