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How big is the Fornax Cluster?

The Fornax Cluster is 200 zettameters

Introduction

Have you ever wondered what lies beyond our Milky Way galaxy? Well, meet the Fornax Cluster, a dazzling collection of galaxies that is a whole lot bigger than our home galaxy and quite far away too!

What is the Fornax Cluster?

The Fornax Cluster is a group of galaxies that is located approximately 62 million light-years away from us. It is so vast, its boundaries stretch across two constellations in our sky: Fornax and Eridanus. Imagine this, if you could travel at the speed of light, it would still take you 62 million years to reach it! That’s about 600 times longer than the age of human civilization!

Size and Composition of the Fornax Cluster

The Fornax Cluster is a hefty bundle of galaxies, possessing an estimated mass of 7x10^13 solar masses. In simpler terms, it weighs as much as 70 trillion times the mass of our Sun! That’s a number so large, it’s hard to even imagine. To give you a better idea of its size, let’s compare it with some other astronomical objects:

  • The Fornax Cluster is bigger than our Milky Way galaxy, which has an estimated mass of about 1.5x10^12 solar masses. So, the Fornax Cluster is about 46,000 times more massive than the Milky Way!
  • The Fornax Cluster is the second richest galaxy cluster within 100 million light-years of us, after the Virgo Cluster. The Virgo Cluster is considerably larger and heavier, making the Fornax Cluster look like a younger sibling.
  • The Fornax Cluster spans an area of sky about 6° across or about 28 square degrees. That’s roughly equivalent to the size of 140 full moons lined up side by side! The Fornax Cluster is home to numerous galaxies, with NGC 1399 sitting at its center. Other notable members include NGC 1316, the brightest galaxy in the group, and NGC 1365, NGC 1427A, NGC 1427, and NGC 1404.

Why is the Fornax Cluster Important?

The Fornax Cluster isn’t just massive; it’s also a valuable source of information about the evolution of galaxy clusters. Its relatively close proximity to us allows astronomers to study it in detail and understand more about the cosmos. One fascinating feature of the Fornax Cluster is the gravitational effects observed from a merger of a galaxy subgroup with the main galaxy group. This gives us clues about the structure and behavior of large cosmic structures.

Conclusion

The vastness of the universe is truly mind-boggling, and the Fornax Cluster is a perfect example of that. Even though it’s millions of light-years away, studying it helps us understand our place in the cosmos. So next time you look up at the night sky, remember, there’s a whole lot more out there than meets the eye!

Smaller By Category
Virgo Cluster
The Virgo Cluster is the largest cluster in the Virgo Supercluster, and is at its center. It was discovered in the late 1770s when its galaxies were cataloged as Messier objects.
Local Group
The Local Group is the cluster of galaxies that we live in. It contains about eighty galaxies and dwarf galaxies. The two largest galaxies are the Andromeda Galaxy and our own, the Milky Way.
Abell 2029
Abell 2029 is a galaxy cluster one billion light-years away in the constellation Virgo. Its central galaxy, which is IC 1101, is almost as large as it is. It emits 1 trillion times as much light as the Sun does. (About 10^34 light bulbs)
Larger By Category
Virgo Supercluster
The Virgo Supercluster, one of millions of superclusters, contains over 100 galaxy clusters. These include our cluster, as well as the largest one, the Virgo Cluster (which is not super).
Distance to the Shapley Supercluster
The Shapley Supercluster is a supercluster of galaxies. It is one of the largest objects that collapses inward; anything larger expands with the universe.
Distance to the Great Attractor
The Great Attractor is pulling thousands of galaxies, including the Milky Way, towards itself. Its mass is tens of thousands of times greater than the Milky Way's.