page_title: Norma Cluster
hierarchical_section_title: Norma Cluster
caption_attribution_description: English: This image covers a field of 0.5° x 0.5° in the Southern constellation of Norma (The Level) and in the direction of the "Great Attractor". This region is at an angular distance of about 7° from the main plane of the Milky Way, i.e. less than 15 times the width of the image shown. In this colour composite, the foreground stars in the Milky Way mostly appear as whitish spots (the "crosses" around some of the brighter stars are caused by reflections in the telescope optics). Many background galaxies are also seen. They form a huge cluster (ACO 3627) with a number of bright galaxies near the center — they stand out by their larger size and yellowish colour. In order to facilitate transport over the Web, this image has been compressed by a factor of four from its original size (8500 x 8250 pixels). North is up and East is left. Five exposures each were made in blue (B-band filter; 5 x 300 sec), red (R-band filter; 5 x 180 sec) and near-infrared (narrow-band filter centered at 816 nm; 5 x 240 sec) light and combined into a false-colour composite by using blue, green, and red colour for the three images, respectively. A logarithmic intensity scale is used to better show the inner as well as the outer regions of the galaxies in this field. Credit: ESO
context_page_description: The Norma Cluster is a rich cluster of galaxies located near the center of the Great Attractor; it is about 68 Mpc distant. Although it is both nearby and bright, it is difficult to observe because it is located in the Zone of Avoidance, a region near the plane of the Milky Way. Consequently, the cluster is severely obscured by interstellar dust at optical wavelengths. Its mass is estimated to be on the order of 10¹⁵ solar masses.
  ESO 137-001, an example of a jellyfish galaxy, is located in Abell 3627.
context_section_description: The Norma Cluster (ACO 3627 or Abell 3627) is a rich cluster of galaxies located near the center of the Great Attractor; it is about 68 Mpc (222 Mly) distant. Although it is both nearby and bright, it is difficult to observe because it is located in the Zone of Avoidance, a region near the plane of the Milky Way. Consequently, the cluster is severely obscured by interstellar dust at optical wavelengths. Its mass is estimated to be on the order of 10¹⁵ solar masses.
  ESO 137-001, an example of a jellyfish galaxy, is located in Abell 3627.
caption: Centre of Norma Cluster with Milky Way stars in the foreground. Giant galaxies ESO 137-8 and ESO 137-6 are visible to the left.
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