Artist's Impression of a Cosmic "Ocean" of Cold Gas (IMAGE)
Caption
Artist's impression of a cosmic "ocean" of cold gas, discovered at heart of an embryonic cluster of galaxies, some 10 billion light years away. The central region has been given the name "Spiderweb" though it was previously known as MRC 1138-262, because it seems to consist of tiny galaxies trapped by gravity, rather like flies in a spider's web. The cold gas, the matter from which new stars form, is spread across a quarter of a million light years, and it is expected that this cloud of cosmic gas will condense into a single "supergalaxy."
Credit
ESO/ M. Kornmesser.
Usage Restrictions
Image under international license 4.0 Creative Commons (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
License
Licensed content