Chandra Release - April 28, 2017

Visual Description: Abell 262

Four images of galaxy clusters - Abell 262, Abell 383, Abell 1413, and Abell 2390 - are shown in a collage colored in bright pink, pale yellow and white. The composite images display each cluster glowing with diffuse pink-magenta halos of X-ray emission (from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory) overlaid on optical views of galaxies (from Hubble and a ground based telescope). The clusters appear as bright, blush cores surrounded by softer, extended X-ray gas that fades into the background, like large pink topazes that have softened blurry edges. The optical light shows many individual galaxies clustered toward each center, while the hot gas mapped by X-rays forms expansive atmospheres enveloping each cluster, highlighting how much of the cluster's mass lies in this nearly invisible intergalactic medium. The image gives a feeling of similarity among the clusters, despite their different sizes and distances.