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> Abell 370 cluster of galaxies with gravitational arcs
Abell 370 cluster of galaxies with gravitational arcs
author: ESO/Novapix
reference: a-amg90-00100
Image Size 300 DPI: 24 * 23 cm
This cluster hosts one of the most prominent gravitational arcs known to date. The light of a very distant object is deformed by the foreground cluster. Abell 370, at the center of the photo, contains a large number of galaxies - most of them are ellipticals. The two brightest red galaxies slightly above the gravitational arc are the most massive in the cluster and give an important contribution to the lensing event. This gravitational arc - in combination with the cluster of galaxies - provides a natural laboratory to study the physics of gravity. The exact shape of the arc allows to estimate the mass of the cluster through the equations of general relativity.
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