💥 Four Galaxy Clusters in a Historic Collision
This composite image of MACS J0717.5+3745 captures the first known collision of four galaxy clusters. Hubble reveals the galaxies, while Chandra X-ray Observatory shows the hot gas, with blue indicating the hottest gas and reddish-purple the coolest.
Astronomers found that a 13-million-light-year-long filament of galaxies, gas, and dark matter is continuously feeding the cluster, driving these repeated collisions. Located 5.4 billion light-years from Earth, MACS J0717 is one of the most complex galaxy clusters ever discovered.
Credit: Nasa