Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 19, 2026

Bringing the Visible Universe into Focus with Robo-AO
Published on: February 12, 2013
A massive, cooling-flow-induced starburst in the core of a luminous cluster of galaxies
M McDonald1, M Bayliss, B A Benson
1MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA. mcdonald@space.mit.edu
Abstract:
In the cores of some clusters of galaxies the hot intracluster plasma is dense enough that it should cool radiatively in the cluster's lifetime, leading to continuous 'cooling flows' of gas sinking towards the cluster centre, yet no such cooling flow has been observed. The low observed star-formation rates and cool gas masses for these 'cool-core' clusters suggest that much of the cooling must be offset by feedback to prevent the formation of a runaway cooling flow. Here we report X-ray, optical and infrared observations of the galaxy cluster SPT-CLJ2344-4243 (ref. 11) at redshift z = 0.596. These observations reveal an exceptionally luminous (8.2 × 10(45) erg s(-1)) galaxy cluster that hosts an extremely strong cooling flow (around 3,820 solar masses a year). Further, the central galaxy in this cluster appears to be experiencing a massive starburst (formation of around 740 solar masses a year), which suggests that the feedback source responsible for preventing runaway cooling in nearby cool-core clusters may not yet be fully established in SPT-CLJ2344-4243. This large star-formation rate implies that a significant fraction of the stars in the central galaxy of this cluster may form through accretion of the intracluster medium, rather than (as is currently thought) assembling entirely via mergers.
Related Concept Videos
Detection of Black Holes
Their closest cousins are neutron stars, which are composed almost entirely of neutrons packed against each other, making them extremely dense. A neutron star has the same mass as the Sun but its diameter is only a few kilometers. Therefore, the escape velocity from their surface is close to the speed of light.
Not until the 1960s, when the first neutron...
Schwarzschild Radius and Event Horizon
The minimum speed required to launch a projectile from the surface of an object to which it is gravitationally bound so that it eventually escapes the object’s gravitational field is called the escape velocity. The escape velocity is independent of the mass of the object. Merging the idea of escape velocity with the...
Excess Pressure Inside a Drop and a Bubble
Divergence and Curl of Magnetic Field
Gravitation Between Spherically Symmetric Masses
Nuclear Fusion
A helium nucleus has a mass that is 0.7% less than that of four hydrogen nuclei; this lost mass is converted into energy during the fusion. This reaction produces about...
