Coma Cluster

{{Short description|Cluster of galaxies in the constellation Coma Berenices}}

{{distinguish|Coma Star Cluster}}

{{Galaxy cluster

| name = Coma Cluster

| image = 290px

| caption = Coma cluster of galaxies photographed by an amateur

| epoch = J2000

| ra = {{RA|12|59|48.7}}{{cite web

| title = NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database

| work = Results for Abell 1656

| url = http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/nph-objsearch?objname=Abell+1656&extend=no

| access-date = 2006-09-19}}

| dec = {{DEC|+27|58|50}}

| constellation = Coma Berenices

| member_no = > 1000

| brightest_member = NGC 4874 and NGC 4889

| richness = 2{{cite journal

| last1 = Abell

| first1 = George O.

| author-link1 = George O. Abell

| last2 = Corwin

| first2 = Harold G. Jr.

| author-link2 = Harold G. Corwin

| last3 = Olowin

| first3 = Ronald P.

| author-link3 = Ronald P. Olowin

| date = May 1989

| title = A catalog of rich clusters of galaxies

| journal = Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series

| volume = 70

| issue = May 1989

| pages = 1–138

| issn = 0067-0049

| bibcode = 1989ApJS...70....1A

| doi = 10.1086/191333

| doi-access = free

}}

| bmtype = II

| velocity_dispersion = 1,000 km/s{{cite journal

| last1 = Struble

| first1 = Mitchell F.

| last2 = Rood

| first2 = Herbert J.

| date = November 1999

| title = A Compilation of Redshifts and Velocity Dispersions for ACO Clusters

| journal = The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series

| volume = 125

| issue = 1

| pages = 35–71

| location = Chicago, Illinois, USA

| publisher = The University of Chicago Press

| bibcode = 1999ApJS..125...35S

| doi = 10.1086/313274

| doi-access = free

}}

| redshift = 0.0231 (6 925 km/s)

| distance = {{convert|102.975|Mpc|Mly|0|abbr=on|lk=on}} for {{hub|0.705}}

| temperature = 8–9 keVSection 4 of {{cite journal

| last1 = Sato

| first1 = Takuya

| last2 = Matsushita

| first2 = Kyoko

| last3 = Ota, Naomi; Sato, Kosuke; Nakazawa, Kazuhiro; Sarazin, Craig L.

| date = November 2011

| title = Suzaku Observations of Iron K-Lines from the Intracluster Medium of the Coma Cluster

| journal = Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan

| volume = 63

| issue = SP3

| pages = S991–S1007

| arxiv = 1109.0154

| bibcode = 2011PASJ...63S.991S

| access-date = March 12, 2012

| url = http://pasj.asj.or.jp/v63/sp3/63s345/63s345.pdf

| doi=10.1093/pasj/63.sp3.s991

}}

| mass = ~7{{e|14}}{{cite journal

| last1 = Gavazzi

| first1 = R.

| last2 = Adami

| first2 = C.

| last3 = Durret

| first3 = F.

| last4 = Cuillandre

| first4 = J.-C.

| last5 = Ilbert

| first5 = O.

| last6 = Mazure

| first6 = A.

| last7 = Pelló

| first7 = R.

| last8 = Ulmer

| first8 = M.P.

| date = May 2009

| title = A weak lensing study of the Coma cluster

| journal = Astronomy and Astrophysics

| volume = 498

| issue = 2

| pages = L33–L36

| bibcode = 2009A&A...498L..33G

| doi = 10.1051/0004-6361/200911841

|arxiv = 0904.0220 | s2cid = 15418452

}}

| luminosity =

| flux = (319.20 ± 2.6%){{e|-12}} erg s−1 cm−2 (0.1–2.4 keV)

| other_names = Abell 1656

}}

The Coma Cluster (Abell 1656) is a large cluster of galaxies that contains over 1,000 identified galaxies.{{cite web

|title = Chandra/Field Guide to X-ray Sources

|work = Coma Cluster

|url = http://chandra.harvard.edu/xray_sources/coma/

|access-date = 2008-06-16

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080421215423/http://chandra.harvard.edu/xray_sources/coma/

|archive-date = April 21, 2008

}}

{{cite web

|title = NASA / Focus on the Coma Cluster

|url = http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/objects/coma.html

|access-date = 2008-06-16

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080530151953/http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/objects/coma.html

|archive-date = 2008-05-30

}} Along with the Leo Cluster (Abell 1367), it is one of the two major clusters comprising the Coma Supercluster.{{Cite web|title=The Coma Supercluster|url=http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/superc/com.html}} It is located in and takes its name from the constellation Coma Berenices.

The cluster's mean distance from Earth is 99 Mpc (321 million light years).{{cite web |title=2MASS Atlas Image Gallery: Galaxy Groups and Clusters |publisher=Infrared Processing and Analysis Center |url=http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/2mass/gallery/images_galcl.html |access-date=2010-05-02}}{{cite encyclopedia | last = Colless | first = M | editor = P Murdin | encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of Astronomy and Astrophysics | title = Coma Cluster | url = http://eaa.iop.org/abstract/0333750888/2600 | access-date = 2006-10-08 | date = 2001 | publisher = Bristol Institute of Physics publishing }}{{dead link|date=August 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Its ten brightest spiral galaxies have apparent magnitudes of 12–14 that are observable with amateur telescopes larger than 20 cm.{{cite web

| title = ScienceNet – Astronomy & Space Science – Observatories/ Telescopes – Question No. 13490

| author = Singapore Science Centre

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20051111151435/http://www.science.edu.sg/ssc/detailed.jsp?artid=1950&type=6&root=6&parent=6&cat=66

| archive-date = 2005-11-11

| access-date = 2012-02-25

| url = http://www.science.edu.sg/ssc/detailed.jsp?artid=1950&type=6&root=6&parent=6&cat=66

}} The central region is dominated by two supergiant elliptical galaxies: NGC 4874 and NGC 4889.{{cite journal

| author = Conselice, Christopher J., Gallagher, John S., III

| title = Galaxy aggregates in the Coma cluster

| journal = Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

| date = 1998

| volume = 297

| issue = 2

| pages = L34–L38

| doi = 10.1046/j.1365-8711.1998.01717.x

| doi-access = free

| arxiv = astro-ph/9801160

| bibcode = 1998MNRAS.297L..34C

| s2cid = 14908115

}} The cluster is within a few degrees of the north galactic pole on the sky. Most of the galaxies that inhabit the central portion of the Coma Cluster are ellipticals. Both dwarf and giant ellipticals are found in abundance in the Coma Cluster.[http://newswise.com/articles/view/541574/ Newswise: Hubble's Sweeping View of the Coma Cluster of Galaxies] Retrieved on June 11, 2008.

Cluster members

File:Wading through water.jpg D100, found in the Coma Cluster, are created by ram-pressure stripping.{{cite web |title=Wading through water |url=https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1904a/ |website=www.spacetelescope.org |access-date=28 January 2019 |language=en}}{{Cite journal|last=Cramer|first=William J.|display-authors=et al.|date=Jan 2019|title=Spectacular Hubble Space Telescope Observations of the Coma Galaxy D100 and Star Formation in Its Ram Pressure–stripped Tail |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |volume=870|issue=2|page=2|doi=10.3847/1538-4357/aaefff|arxiv=1811.04916|bibcode=2019ApJ...870...63C|s2cid=119218554 |doi-access=free }}]]

As is usual for clusters of this richness, the galaxies are overwhelmingly elliptical and S0 galaxies, with only a few spirals of younger age, and many of them probably near the outskirts of the cluster.

The full extent of the cluster was not understood until it was more thoroughly studied in the 1950s by astronomers at Mount Palomar Observatory, although many of the individual galaxies in the cluster had been identified previously.{{cite journal

| last1 = Zwicky

| first1 = Fritz

| author-link1 = Fritz Zwicky

|date=October 1937

| title = On the Masses of Nebulae and of Clusters of Nebulae

| journal = Astrophysical Journal

| volume = 86

| issue = 3

| pages = 217–246

| bibcode = 1937ApJ....86..217Z

| doi = 10.1086/143864

| doi-access = free

}}{{cite journal

| last1 = Shapley

| first1 = Harlow

| author-link1 = Harlow Shapley

|date=July 1934

| title = A Photometric Investigation of Wolf's Cluster of Nebulae in Coma

| journal = Harvard College Observatory Bulletin

|volume=896

| pages = 3–12

| location = Cambridge, MA, USA

| bibcode = 1934BHarO.896....3S

}}{{cite journal

| last1 = Wallenquist

| first1 = Å.

| date = 1933

| title = On the space distribution of the nebulae in the Coma Cluster

| journal = Annalen V.d. Bosscha-Sterrenwacht (Miscellaneous Papers (Observatorium Bosscha))

| volume = 4

| issue = 6

| pages = 73–77

| location = France

| publisher = Bandoeng : Gebrs. Kleijne

| bibcode = 1933AnBos...4...73W

}}

Dark matter

The Coma Cluster is one of the first places where observed gravitational anomalies were considered to be indicative of unobserved mass. In 1933 Fritz Zwicky showed that the galaxies of the Coma Cluster were moving too fast for the cluster to be bound together by the visible matter of its galaxies. Though the idea of dark matter would not be accepted for another fifty years, Zwicky wrote that the galaxies must be held together by "dunkle Materie" (dark matter).{{cite journal |last1=Zwicky |first1=F. |title=Die Rotverschiebung von extragalaktischen Nebeln |journal=Helvetica Physica Acta |date=1933 |volume=6 |pages=110–127 |bibcode=1933AcHPh...6..110Z |url=https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu//full/1933AcHPh...6..110Z/0000110.000.html |trans-title=The red shift of extragalactic neubulae |language=German}} From p 125: "Um, wie beobachtet, einen mittleren Dopplereffekt von 1000 km/sek oder mehr zu erhalten, müsste also die mittlere Dichte im Comasystem mindestens 400 mal grösser sein als die auf Grund von Beobachtungen an leuchtender Materie abgeleitete. Falls sich dies bewahrheiten sollte, würde sich also das überraschende Resultat ergeben, dass dunkle Materie in sehr viel grösserer Dichte vorhanden ist als leuchtende Materie." (In order to obtain an average Doppler effect of 1000 km/s or more, as observed, the average density in the Coma system would thus have to be at least 400 times greater than that derived on the basis of observations of luminous matter. If this were to be verified, the surprising result would then follow that dark matter is present in very much greater density than luminous matter.){{cite journal | last1=de Swart| first1=J. G.| last2=Bertone| first2=G.| last3=van Dongen| first3=J.| title=How dark matter came to matter| journal=Nature Astronomy| date=2017| volume=1| issue=59| page=0059| doi=10.1038/s41550-017-0059| arxiv = 1703.00013 | bibcode = 2017NatAs...1E..59D |s2cid=119092226}}

About 90% of the mass of the Coma cluster is believed to be in the form of dark matter. The distribution of dark matter throughout the cluster, however, is poorly constrained{{clarify|date=April 2023}}.{{Cite journal | author = Merritt, D. | author-link = David Merritt | title = The Distribution of Dark Matter in the Coma Cluster | journal = The Astrophysical Journal | volume = 313 | pages = 121–135 |date=February 1987 | bibcode = 1987ApJ...313..121M | doi = 10.1086/164953| doi-access = free }}

X-ray source

An extended X-ray source centered at 1300+28 in the direction of the Coma cluster of galaxies was reported before August 1966.{{ cite journal

|vauthors=Boldt E, McDonald FB, Riegler G, Serlemitsos P | title = Extended source of energetic cosmic X rays

| date = 1966

| journal = Phys. Rev. Lett.

| volume = 17

| issue = 8

| pages = 447–50

| doi = 10.1103/PhysRevLett.17.447

| bibcode = 1966PhRvL..17..447B

}} This X-ray observation was performed by balloon, but the source was not detected in the sounding rocket flight launched by the X-ray astronomy group at the Naval Research Laboratory on November 25, 1964.{{ cite journal

|vauthors=Friedman H, Byram ET | title = X-rays from the Coma cluster of galaxies

| journal = Astrophysical Journal

|date=January 1967

| volume = 147

| issue = 1

| pages = 399–401

| bibcode = 1967ApJ...147..368.

| doi = 10.1086/149022

| s2cid = 4286878

}} A strong X-ray source was observed by the X-ray observatory satellite Uhuru close to the center of the Coma cluster and this source was suggested to be designated Coma X-1.{{ cite journal

|vauthors=Gursky H, Kellogg E, Murray S, Leong C, Tananbaum H, Giacconi R | title = A strong X-ray source in the Coma cluster observed by Uhuru

| journal = Astrophysical Journal

|date=Aug 1971

| volume=167

| issue = 8

| pages = L81–4

| bibcode = 1971ApJ...167L..81G

| doi = 10.1086/180765

| doi-access = free

}}

The Coma cluster contains about 800 galaxies within a 100 x 100 arc-min area of the celestial sphere. The source near the center at RA (1950) 12h56m ± 2m Dec 28°6' ± 12' has a luminosity Lx = 2.6 x 1044 ergs/s. As the source is extended, with a size of about 45', this argues against the possibility that a single galaxy is responsible for the emission. The Uhuru observations indicated a source strength of no greater than ~10−3 photons cm−2s−1keV−1 at 25 keV, which disagrees with the earlier observations claiming a source strength of ~10−2 photons cm−2s−1keV−1 at 25 keV, and a size of 5°.{{clear}}

Gallery

File:Clusters within clusters - Coma Cluster.jpg|Thousands of globular clusters lying at the core of a galaxy cluster{{cite web |title=Clusters within clusters |url=https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1849a/ |website=www.spacetelescope.org |access-date=3 December 2018}}

File:The Coma Galaxy Cluster as seen by Hubble Heic0813a.jpg|A large portion of the Coma Cluster seen by Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys

File:Hubble close-up on the Coma Cluster.jpg|Hubble close-up on the Coma Cluster{{cite news|title=Hubble close-up on the Coma Cluster|url=http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1402a/|access-date=18 January 2014|newspaper=ESA/Hubble Picture of the Week}}

File:NGC 4911.jpg|A face-on view of a spiral galaxy (NGC 4911) located deep within the Coma Cluster

File:Coma Cluster of Galaxies (visible, wide field).jpg|Wide field image of the Coma Cluster taken at the Mount Lemmon SkyCenter using the 0.8m Schulman Telescope

File:ComaGalaxy.jpg|Coma Cluster photographed through 8" Celestron Edge HD in San Diego, CA.{{Cite web|url=http://www.astrobin.com/244071/|title = Coma Cluster}}

File:Coma cluster.png|Coma cluster by amateur astrophotographer Anthony MICHEL{{cite web|title=Coma cluster |url=https://app.astrobin.com/i/94s8qc}}

File:Comacl zentrum600.png|Map of the central part of the Coma Cluster.

See also

References

{{reflist}}