SPACE Exploration

When Galaxy Clusters Collide

There is a deep connection between some of the largest, most energetic events in the Universe and much smaller, weaker ones powered by our own Sun.
The results come from a long observation with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory of Abell 2146, a pair of colliding galaxy clusters located about 2.8 billion light years from Earth.

Galaxy clusters contain hundreds of galaxies and huge amounts of hot gas and dark matter and are among the largest structures in the Universe. Collisions between galaxy clusters release enormous amounts of energy unlike anything witnessed since the big bang and provide scientists with physics laboratories that are unavailable here on Earth.

Learn more: Colossal Collisions Linked to Solar System Science

Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ. of Nottingham/H. Russell et al.; Optical: NAOJ/Subaru

A close-up view of NASA's Artemis 1 Space Launch System megarocket inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sept. 20, 2021. (Image credit: NASA/Frank Michaux)

Photographing Mars

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used its black-and-white navigation cameras to capture panoramas of this scene at two times of day. This was the view at 8:30 a.m. local Mars time on Nov. 16, 2021 (the 3,299th Martian day, or sol, of the mission) and again at 4:10 p.m. local Mars time. The two times of day provided contrasting lighting conditions that brought out a variety of landscape details.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Curiosity Mars Rover