Director of Communications The Kavli Foundation Director of
Communications The Kavli Foundation (Originally published by
NASA) August 15, 2012 Astronomers have found an extraordinary
galaxy cluster -- one of the largest objects in the Universe --
that is breaking several important cosmic records. Observations
of this cluster, known as the Phoenix Cluster, with NASA's
Chandra X-ray Observatory, the NSF’s South Pole Telescope and
eight other world-class observatories, may force astronomers to
rethink how these colossal structures, and the galaxies that
inhabit them, evolve. Stars are forming in the Phoenix Cluster
at the highest rate ever observed for the middle of a galaxy
cluster. The object is also the most powerful producer of X-rays
of any known cluster, and among the most massive of clusters.
The data also suggest that the rate of hot gas cooling in the
central regions of the cluster is the largest ever observed.
This galaxy cluster has been dubbed the "Phoenix Cluster"
because it is located in the conste