The Pandora Cluster is a colossal galaxy cluster that is home to at least four galaxy clusters that merged 350 million years ago.
This particular cluster of galaxies is located 3.9 billion light-years away, in the constellation of Sculptor (Sculptor), introduced by the French astronomer of the eighteenth century, Nicolas Louis de Lacaille. and that it is perpendicular to the plane of the Milky Way.
How originated?
The Pandora Cluster was born from the collision of four smaller clusters over a period of 350 million years. In this case, these huge colliding clusters have very bright galaxies but, despite this, they barely represent 5% of the mass of the cluster itself. According to astronomers , perhaps 20% is represented by gas so extremely hot that it only shines in X-rays and is therefore only detectable with telescopes such as NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory or the new IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer), launched in 2021 with the intention of observing black holes and neutron stars, among other cosmic objects.
If 20% of the mass is hot gas, what does the rest of its mass represent? The elusive dark matter comprises at least 75% of the cluster’s mass, the scientists say, though its presence must be inferred from warping and altering photon paths . Its formation separated dark matter and baryonic (or ordinary) matter such as protons and neutrons, so the different types of matter are separated and the dark matter is not even found near the visible galaxies of the cluster. Therefore, it is a corner, for us, that has many enigmas to unravel.
Abell 2744 or Pandora’s Cluster has an unknown diameter, an unknown number of galaxies and a mass, as we can see, equally unknown.
Why that name?
Pandora’s Cluster owes its name to the homonymous character from Greek mythology who, by opening a box, spread evil throughout the world. And it is that the collision of the four clusters released all kinds of cosmic phenomena and, among them is the complicated and unequal distribution of the different types of matter of the galactic Pandora.
Reference: The Universe: A Travel Guide, Oliver Berry, Dr. Mark A. Garlick, Mark Mackenzie, Valrie Stimac. Lonely Planet. 2020
Chandra X-Ray Observatory 2011
