Large galaxy cluster in the constellation Virgo
Abell 1689 is a galaxy cluster in the constellation Virgo over 2.3 billion light-years away.
Details
Abell 1689 is one of the biggest and most massive galaxy clusters known and acts as a gravitational lens, distorting the images of galaxies that lie behind it.[4] It has the largest system of gravitational arcs ever found.[5]
Abell 1689 shows over 160,000 globular clusters, the largest population ever found.[6]
There is evidence of merging and gases in excess of 100 million degrees.[5] The very large mass of this cluster makes it useful for the study of dark matter and gravitational lensing.[7][8]
At the time of its discovery in 2008, one of the lensed galaxies, A1689-zD1, was the most distant galaxy found.[9][10]