Massive Galaxy Cluster Found

by Barry Henly

Some amazing news this week...Jan 10, 2012 4:37 PM ET

An international team of astronomers has located a massive, hot young galaxy cluster – the largest ever seen in the distant universe.

The finding was announced Tuesday at the 219th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Austin, Texas.

Nicknamed El Gordo, which means "fat one" in Spanish, the new discovery consists of two separate galaxy subclusters colliding at several million kilometres per hour, and is so far away that its light has travelled for seven billion years to reach the Earth.

"This cluster is the most massive, the hottest, and gives off the most X-rays of any known cluster at this distance or beyond," said Felipe Menanteau of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., who led the study.

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