2023 June 09 - Pandora's Cluster of Galaxies
Channel: APOD Podcast
Date: 2023-06-09

In today's image, we see Pandora's Cluster of galaxies. This is a massive closure resulting from the merger of three galaxy clusters. Much of the mass of this, and other clusters, is in the form of dark matter. Dark matter is completely invisible and only detectable through the gravitational interactions. This is often seen in gravitational lensing when the light from more distant galaxies is distorted as it passes through the cluster.

This YouTube channel is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230609.html.

I also provide lecture videos to accompany the free OpenStax Astronomy textbook (https://openstax.org/details/books/astronomy/) on another channel. They are avilable here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMahwAGxKuWldeQ_qaIj8c0i7qbfyfLj4 or through this channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLXFGlTeF86MsI1HqBcuqKQ

Note: All commentary is created by me and is not necessarily approved or sanctioned by APOD or NASA.