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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.

A Distant Cluster of Galaxies

Explanation: 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 .

Date December 7, 1997
Credit Credit: A. Dressler (CIW), NASA
Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.