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Astronomy Image of the Day

A Distant Cluster of Galaxies

07 December 1997

Author not provided

NASA Astronomy Image of the Day for 07 December 1997

In this 1994 Hubble Space Telescope photograph, every bright object is a galaxy. Oddly - most of them are spiral galaxies. This rich cluster of galaxies, named CL 0939+4713, is almost half way across the visible universe. Photos like this indicate that clusters in the past contained a higher fraction of spirals than do nearby clusters which are usually dominated by elliptical galaxies.

Image and explanation courtesy of NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day