Musket Ball Cluster | |
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Observation data ( Epoch J2000.0 [1]) | |
Constellation(s) | Cancer |
Right ascension | 09h 16m 10.9s [1] |
Declination | +29° 48′ 44″ [1] |
Redshift | 0.53 [2] |
Other designations | |
Musket Ball Cluster, [3] DLSCL J0916.2+2951, [2] SHELS J0916.2+2949 [1] | |
The Musket Ball Cluster (DLSCL J0916.2+2951) is a galaxy cluster that exhibits separation between its baryonic matter and dark matter components. The cluster is a recent merger of two galaxy clusters. It is named after the Bullet Cluster, as it is a slower collision, and older than the Bullet Cluster. This cluster is further along the process of merger than the Bullet Cluster, [3] being some 500 million years older, at 700 million years old. [4] The cluster was discovered in 2011 by the Deep Lens Survey. [2] As of 2012, it is one of the few galaxy clusters to show separation between its dark matter and baryonic matter components. [5]
As of 2012, it is one of seven galaxy clusters that exhibit separation of dark matter and baryonic matter following cluster collision and merger. [3] The separation between the galaxies and their dark matter components is on average 19,000 light-years (5,800 pc). This separation may indicate that dark matter may interact with itself, through a dark force (a force that only interacts with dark matter) or a set of dark forces. [6] The galaxy cluster itself is some 8 million light-years (2.5 Mpc) across. [7]