Coma Cluster
The Coma cluster is the prototypical rich cluster of galaxies,
with over a thousand member galaxies known. This is the central
region, dominated by two giant ellipticals. As is usual for
clusters of this richness, the galaxies are overwhelmingly
elliptical and S0 galaxies, with only a few spirals (and many
of them probably near the outskirts of the cluster).
Most of the objects in this picture are galaxies; only the
very bright objects with diffraction spikes and the smallest
circular dots are foreground stars in our Galaxy.
This blue-light image was provided by Gregory Bothun (University of Oregon).
The color shades represent different brightness levels, to make
subtle detail more obvious.
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