NRAO: National Radio Astronomy Observatory

About this Image

Four radio galaxies perform a complicated dance in the heart of Abell 2255, a rich cluster of galaxies in the throes of a cluster-cluster merger. The optical image, collected at Kitt Peak National Observatory, is displayed in blue and reveals numerous galaxies in a chain-like structure. The NRAO Very Large Array was used to obtain the radio data, which are shown in red. The prominent radio galaxies include three sources in which twin jets of radio-emitting plasma are swept back into a single tail by motion relative to the diffuse gas which permeates the cluster itself. Also visible are numerous fainter galaxies with associated radio emission. In many cases, these are starbursts likely instigated by the dramatic environment.

Investigator(s):  Neal Miller & Frazer Owen

Alternate Resolutions

Help

This image is available in the following downloadable versions:

• 400 x 533 color JPEG
• 788 x 1050 color JPEG
• 2027 x 2700 color TIFF

If you would like to obtain a higher resolution version of this image, please contact Pat Smiley.

For More Information

• Read the Journal article
• Up one level for more info on Clusters
• For unfamiliar terms, visit the NRAO Radio Astronomy Glossary

Technical Data

Telescope	VLA
Date of Observation	1998-07-00
Type of Observation	Continuum Observations
Band	L
Wavelength	20 cm
Frequency	1.4 GHz
Center of Image	RA: 17:12:30.30, Dec: 64:01:49.80 (J2000)
Field of View	0.2000 x 0.1500 degrees
Technical Caption	The optical image was obtained at KPNO using the 0.9m with the Mosaic CCD. The original pixel scale was 0.68" with seeing of about 1". The radio image is the result of numerous pointings combined in a mosaic. It corresponds to both B and D array VLA data, each at 1.4GHz. Exposure times per pointing were about 20 minutes (B array) and 10 minutes (D array), resulting in a net rms noise in the final mosaic map of under 40 uJy/beam.



Astronomical database entries for Abell 2255
• Query NED for images of Abell 2255
• Query SIMBAD for more Abell 2255 data

---

SEARCH THE IMAGE GALLERY To search the Image Gallery for other images of Abell 2255, click the Submit button. Object Name Show Results As: Thumbnails List To search the Image Gallery for similar images, click the Submit button. Category Sub-Category Telescope Mode Show Results As: Any Galaxy AGN Galactic_Sources Solar_System Miscellaneous Telescopes Historical Any Spiral Early-type Dwarf Peculiar Clusters Any GBT VLA VLBA ALMA 12 m 140 ft Any Continuum Spectral Line Thumbnails List For more search options, please use our Advanced Search form.