Leo Cluster

Not to be confused with Leo I Group or Leo Triplet.
Leo Cluster
legacy surveys image of the center of the Leo Cluster
Observation data (Epoch J2000)
Constellation(s)Leo
Right ascension11h 44m 36.5s[1]
Declination19° 45′ 32″[1]
Brightest memberNGC 3842
Number of galaxies~100[2]
Richness class2[3]
Bautz–Morgan classificationII-III[3]
Redshift0.022 (6 595 km/s)[1]
Distance113 Mpc (368.6 Mly) for h−1
0.705
X-ray flux(81.40 ± 6.0%)×10−12 erg s−1 cm−2 (0.1–2.4 keV)[1]
Other designations
Abell 1367

The Leo Cluster (Abell 1367) is a galaxy cluster about 330 million light-years distant (z = 0.022[1]) in the constellation Leo, with at least 70 major galaxies. The galaxy known as NGC 3842 is the brightest member of this cluster.[4] Along with the Coma Cluster, it is one of the two major clusters comprising the Coma Supercluster,[5] 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.[6]

A team of scientists decided to observe the Leo Cluster with the intention of creating a catalog of extended ionized gas (EIG) clouds. This data also led to the discovery of many star-forming parents (galaxies) within the cluster. These star-forming galaxies turned out to be very similar to those found in the neighboring Coma cluster. The EIGs in the Leo cluster, however, turned out to be longer in the Leo cluster than the Coma cluster. This likely means that the Leo cluster and its stars are probably younger than most comparable clusters in the universe and evolve at a different pace.[7]

Most dense galaxy clusters are composed mostly of elliptical galaxies. The Leo Cluster, however, mostly contains spiral galaxies, suggesting that it is much younger than other comparable clusters, such as the Coma Cluster. It is also home to one of the universe's largest known black holes, which lies in the center of NGC 3842. The black hole is 9.7 billion times more massive than the Sun.[4]

It can be very difficult for stars to form within the Leo Cluster. This is because infalling galaxies have a tendency to strip gas away from other stars that are attempting to form. This has led to the creation of a "hot zone" where stars are unable to maintain their gas long enough to properly form.[8]

There appears to be a number of subpopulations within the Leo Cluster. The first consists of elliptical galaxies that seem to be roughly as old as the universe. The second subpopulation contains red-sequence lenticular (lens shaped) galaxies whose ages are directly tied to their mass. The third and final subpopulation is of galaxies where star formation is still taking place, and are morphologically distributed.[9]

  1. ^ a b c d e "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for Abell 1367. Retrieved 2007-10-04.
  2. ^ "Abell 1367". Albert Highe: Observing Projects. Archived from the original on 2007-04-07. Retrieved 2007-10-04.
  3. ^ a b Abell, George O.; Corwin, Harold G. Jr.; Olowin, Ronald P. (May 1989). "A catalog of rich clusters of galaxies". Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 70 (May 1989): 1–138. Bibcode:1989ApJS...70....1A. doi:10.1086/191333. ISSN 0067-0049.
  4. ^ a b "Are You Ready, Willing, and Abell? - Sky & Telescope". Sky & Telescope. 2017-04-26. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
  5. ^ "The Coma Supercluster". www.atlasoftheuniverse.com. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  6. ^ "Webb Deep-Sky Society: Galaxy of the Month: NGC3842". www.webbdeepsky.com. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  7. ^ Yagi, Masafumi; Yoshida, Michitoshi; Gavazzi, Giuseppe; Komiyama, Yutaka; Kashikawa, Nobunari; Sadanori Okamura (2017). "Extended Ionized Gas Clouds in the Abell 1367 Cluster". The Astrophysical Journal. 839 (1): 65. arXiv:1703.10301. Bibcode:2017ApJ...839...65Y. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aa68e3. ISSN 0004-637X. S2CID 119210351.
  8. ^ "Abell 1367 - The Leo Galaxy Cluster". www.beskeen.com. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
  9. ^ Mouhcine, M.; Kriwattanawong, W.; James, P. A. (2011-04-01). "The galaxy population of Abell 1367: the stellar mass–metallicity relation". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 412 (2): 1295–1308. arXiv:1101.2074. Bibcode:2011MNRAS.412.1295M. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.17993.x. ISSN 0035-8711. S2CID 118367587.