| Expected & Detected High-resolution images of the hot gas in clusters of galaxies that would provide insight into: how clusters are formed, the heating and cooling of the gas in clusters, and the amount and distribution of dark matter that is holding the clusters together. |
Unexpected Discovered ripples in the hot gas in the Perseus cluster. These ripples are likely caused by sound waves produced by repetitive explosions every few million years that are generated by matter falling toward a supermassive black hole in the center of the cluster. This explosive activity could be preventing the formation of millions of stars in the cluster. |
Unexpected A Chandra image of a distant galaxy cluster revealed two vast cavities in the cluster's hot gas (blue). These cavities are filled with energetic particles (red), and were created by a titanic explosion generated as a supermassive black hole swall- owed matter with a mass equal to that of 300 million suns over the course of millions of years. |
Unexpected Combined data from Chandra and optical telescopes showed that a high-speed collision between galaxy clusters produced a detectable separation of normal, visible matter (pink) from most of the matter in the clusters (blue). This result provides direct evidence that dark matter exists and is the dominant form of matter in the universe. |
