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Microscopium is a minor constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere, one of twelve created in the 18th century by French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille and one of several depicting scientific instruments. The name is a Latinised form of the Greek word for microscope. Its stars are faint and hardly visible from most of the non-tropical Northern Hemisphere.
A supercluster is a large group of smaller galaxy clusters or galaxy groups; they are among the largest known structures in the universe. The Milky Way is part of the Local Group galaxy group, which in turn is part of the Virgo Supercluster, which is part of the Laniakea Supercluster, which is part of the Pisces–Cetus Supercluster Complex. The large size and low density of superclusters means that they, unlike clusters, expand with the Hubble expansion. The number of superclusters in the observable universe is estimated to be 10 million.
A galaxy cluster, or a cluster of galaxies, is a structure that consists of anywhere from hundreds to thousands of galaxies that are bound together by gravity, with typical masses ranging from 1014 to 1015 solar masses. They are the second-largest known gravitationally bound structures in the universe after some superclusters (of which only one, the Shapley Supercluster, is known to be bound). They were believed to be the largest known structures in the universe until the 1980s, when superclusters were discovered. One of the key features of clusters is the intracluster medium (ICM). The ICM consists of heated gas between the galaxies and has a peak temperature between 2–15 keV that is dependent on the total mass of the cluster. Galaxy clusters should not be confused with galactic clusters (also known as open clusters), which are star clusters within galaxies, or with globular clusters, which typically orbit galaxies. Small aggregates of galaxies are referred to as galaxy groups rather than clusters of galaxies. The galaxy groups and clusters can themselves cluster together to form superclusters.
The Virgo Supercluster or the Local Supercluster was a formerly defined supercluster containing the Virgo Cluster and Local Group, which itself contains the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies, as well as others. At least 100 galaxy groups and clusters are located within its diameter of 33 megaparsecs. The Virgo SC is one of about 10 million superclusters in the observable universe and is in the Pisces–Cetus Supercluster Complex, a galaxy filament.
The Hydra–Centaurus Supercluster, or the Hydra and Centaurus Superclusters, was a previously defined supercluster in two parts, which prior to the identification of Laniakea Supercluster in 2014 is the closest neighbour of the former Virgo Supercluster. Its center is located about 39 Mpc (127 Mly) away, with it extending to a maximum distance of around 69 Mpc (225 Mly).
The Coma Supercluster is a nearby supercluster of galaxies comprising the Coma Cluster and the Leo Cluster.
The Perseus–Pisces Supercluster is one of the largest known structures in the universe. Even at a distance of 250 million light-years, this chain of galaxy clusters extends more than 40° across the northern winter sky. The Perseus–Pisces Supercluster is one of two dominant concentrations of galaxies in the nearby universe. This supercluster also borders a prominent void, the Taurus Void, and is part of the Perseus–Pegasus Filament which stretches for roughly a billion light years.
The Horologium-Reticulum Supercluster, is a massive supercluster spanning around 550 million light-years. It has a mass of around 1017 solar masses, similar to that of the Laniakea Supercluster, which houses the Milky Way. It is centered on coordinates right ascension 03h 19m and declination −50° 02′, and spans an angular area of 12° × 12°.
The Shapley Supercluster or Shapley Concentration is the largest concentration of galaxies in our nearby universe that forms a gravitationally interacting unit, thereby pulling itself together instead of expanding with the universe. It appears as a striking overdensity in the distribution of galaxies in the constellation of Centaurus. It is 650 million light-years away (z=0.046).
The Pavo–Indus Supercluster is a neighboring supercluster located about 60–70 Mpc (196–228 Mly) away in the constellations of Pavo, Indus, and Telescopium. The supercluster contains three main clusters, Abell 3656, Abell 3698, and Abell 3742.
The Leo Cluster is a galaxy cluster about 330 million light-years distant in the constellation Leo, with at least 70 major galaxies. The galaxy known as NGC 3842 is the brightest member of this cluster. Along with the Coma Cluster, it is one of the two major clusters comprising the Coma Supercluster, which in turn is part of the CfA2 Great Wall, which is hundreds of millions light years long and is one of the largest known structures in the universe.
The Hercules Superclusters refers to a set of two nearby superclusters of galaxies.
Abell 262 is a galaxy cluster in the Abell catalogue. It is part of the Perseus–Pisces Supercluster, one of the largest known structures in the universe. Although its central galaxy, NGC 708, is a giant cD galaxy, most of its bright galaxies are spirals, which is unusual for a galaxy cluster. With approximately 200 members it is a comparatively small cluster.
Abell 222 is a galaxy cluster in the constellation of Cetus. It holds thousands of galaxies together. It is located at a distance of 2.4 billion light-years from Earth.
The Laniakea Supercluster or the Local Supercluster is the galaxy supercluster that is home to the Milky Way and approximately 100,000 other nearby galaxies.
The Corona Borealis Supercluster is a supercluster located in the constellation Corona Borealis and the most prominent example of its kind in the Northern Celestial Hemisphere. Dense and compact compared with other superclusters, its mass has been calculated to lie somewhere between 0.6 and 12 × 1016 solar masses (M⊙). It contains the galaxy clusters Abell 2056, Abell 2061, Abell 2065 (the most massive galaxy cluster within the supercluster), Abell 2067, Abell 2079, Abell 2089, and Abell 2092. Of these, Abell 2056, 2061, 2065, 2067 and A2089 are gravitationally bound and in the process of collapsing to form a massive cluster. This entity has an estimated mass of around 1 × 1016 M⊙. If there is inter-cluster mass present, then Abell 2092 may also be involved. It has been estimated to be 100 megaparsecs (330 million light-years) wide and 40 megaparsecs (130 million light years) deep. It has a redshift of 0.07, which is equivalent to a distance of around 265.5 megaparsecs (964 million light-years).
The Leo Supercluster is a supercluster in the Northern Celestial Hemisphere that stretches across the constellations Ursa Major and Leo. It covers an area approximately 130 megaparsecs long by 60 megaparsecs wide. The redshifts of member galaxy clusters range from 0.032 to 0.043. The brightest cluster in the system is Abell 1185.
ESO 444-46 is a class E4 supergiant elliptical galaxy; the dominant and brightest member of the Abell 3558 galaxy cluster around 640 million light-years away in the constellation Centaurus. It lies within the core of the massive Shapley Supercluster, one of the closest neighboring superclusters. It is one of the largest galaxies in the local universe, and possibly contains one of the most massive black holes known. The black hole's mass is very uncertain, with estimates ranging from as low as 501 million M☉, to as high as 77.6 billion M☉.
Ophiuchus Supercluster is a nearby galaxy supercluster in the constellation Ophiuchus. The supercluster forms the far wall of the Ophiuchus Void; it may also be connected in a filament with the Pavo-Indus-Telescopium Supercluster and the Hercules Supercluster. This supercluster is centered on the cD cluster Ophiuchus Cluster, and has at least two more galaxy clusters, four more galaxy groups, and several field galaxies as members.
References
- 1 2 Pearson, David W.; Batuski, David J. (2013). "Locating bound structure in an accelerating universe". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 436 (1): 796–806. arXiv: 1308.5154 . Bibcode:2013MNRAS.436..796P. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stt1614 .
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