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Hydra A galaxy cluster
(Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO; Radio: NRAO)
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Hydra A:
Chandra Ploughs Up a Snake In Hydra A

Hydra A
Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO

Hydra A is a galaxy cluster that is 840 million light years from Earth (redshift = .054). The cluster gets its name from the strong radio source, Hydra A, that originates in a galaxy near the center of the cluster. Optical observations show a few hundred galaxies in the cluster. Chandra X-ray observations reveal a large cloud of hot gas that extends throughout the cluster. The gas cloud is several million light years across and has a temperature of about 40 million degrees in the outer parts decreasing to about 35 million degrees in the inner region.



Multi-wavelength Images: (*Images not to scale)
X-ray
Chandra X-ray image of Hydra A
NASA/CXC/SAO
Jpg (160 k)
Tiff (3.8 mb)
PS (3.4 mb) 		Optical
Hydra A - optical
La Palma/B. McNamara
Jpg (28 k)
 Radio
Hydra A- radio
Greg Taylor, NRAO
Jpg (31 k)
Fast Facts for Hydra A:
Credit  NASA/CXC/SAO
Scale  Image is 2.7 arcmin across.
Category  Groups & Clusters of Galaxies
Coordinates (J2000)  RA 09h 18m 06s | Dec -12° 05' 45"
Constellation  Hydra
Observation Dates  October 30, 1999
Observation Time  7 hours
Obs. IDs  575
Color Code  Intensity
Instrument  ACIS
Distance Estimate  840 million light years
Release Date  December 09, 1999