In a fascinating new study, an international team of astronomers has used the Hubble Space Telescope to explore the complex galaxy cluster Abell 2261. Located approximately 2.7 billion light-years away, Abell 2261 is one of the most massive and complex clusters known in the universe.

The team has uncovered a wealth of details about Abell 2261, including an extremely massive central galaxy, the presence of several other large galaxies, and the presence of an unusual feature known as an “intracluster light” (ICL). This ICL is a diffuse, low-surface brightness component that is spread across the cluster, and is composed of stars that have been stripped away from the galaxies in the cluster. The presence of this ICL suggests that Abell 2261 has undergone a complex evolutionary history, likely involving interactions between its member galaxies.

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source: Phys.org