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Abell 1689

Large galaxy cluster in the constellation Virgo

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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. It has the largest system of gravitational arcs ever found.

Abell 1689 shows over 160,000 globular clusters, the largest population ever found.

There is evidence of merging and gases in excess of 100 million degrees. The very large mass of this cluster makes it useful for the study of dark matter and gravitational lensing.

At the time of its discovery in 2008, one of the lensed galaxies, A1689-zD1, was the most distant galaxy found.

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