Two interacting galaxy clusters, A3391 and A3395
Two interacting galaxy clusters, A3391 and A3395
These eROSITA images show the two interacting galaxy clusters A3391, towards the top of the images, and the bimodal cluster A3395, towards the bottom, highlighting eROSITA’s excellent view of the distant Universe. They were observed in a series of image acquisitions performed between 17 and 18 October 2019, using all seven eROSITA telescope modules. The individual images were subjected to different analysis techniques, and then coloured in different schemes to highlight the various structures. In the right-hand image, the red, green and blue colours show the three different energy bands observed by eROSITA. The two clusters can clearly be seen as nebulous structures, which emit brightly in the X-ray spectrum due to the presence of extremely hot gas (millions of degrees) in the space between their component galaxies. The image on the left highlights the ‘bridge’ or ‘filament’ between the two clusters, confirming the suspicion that these two huge structures are interacting dynamically. The eROSITA observations also show hundreds of point-like sources, revealing either distant supermassive black holes or hot stars in the Milky Way.
