Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Perseus (Per)
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Abell 407 (incl. UGC 2489 - Zwickys Nonet) - 2019, Gary Imm
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Abell 407 (incl. UGC 2489 - Zwickys Nonet) - 2019

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Abell 407 (incl. UGC 2489 - Zwickys Nonet) - 2019, Gary Imm
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Abell 407 (incl. UGC 2489 - Zwickys Nonet) - 2019

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Description

This image captures the central region of the Abell 407 galaxy cluster, located a remarkable 0.7 billion light years away in the constellation of Perseus at a declination of +36 degrees. The tiny group of galaxies at the center of the image is named after Swiss astronomer Dr. Fritz Zwicky, who first identified this group in 1971. The word "nonet" has its origins in Latin and Italian. It means nine things, usually people, but in this case it refers to 9 elliptical galaxies which have the single designation of UGC 2489. This object is the most dense system of galaxies in the sky.

The tight group of 9 elliptical galaxies is embedded within a faint, diffuse stellar halo. The 9 galaxies are crammed into a space of less than 1 arc-minute in our apparent view. This space, at 170,000 light years in diameter, is not much larger than our Milky Way.

In addition to the nonet, the 2 larger spiral galaxy objects on the right side of the image also are striking in their appearance. The galaxy directly to the right of center, UGC 2491, looks like a Star Wars Tie Fighter. A bit lower is a galaxy pair which look close enough to each other to be interacting. This pair is UGC 2493 and 2MASX J03015902+3545373. Many other tiny galaxies are visible in the background.

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