Coma Cluster, Abell 1656 is one of the richest galaxy clusters in the night sky, containing more than 1,000 identified galaxies packed into a region over 20 million light-years wide. Located roughly 320 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices, this immense gathering of galaxies is dominated by giant elliptical systems such as NGC 4874 and NGC 4889, surrounded by countless smaller galaxies scattered across the frame like distant islands of light.

Abell 1656 also played a major role in the discovery of dark matter. In the 1930s, astronomer Fritz Zwicky studied the motions of galaxies within the cluster and found they were moving far too quickly to be held together by visible matter alone. His observations suggested the presence of vast amounts of unseen mass, providing some of the earliest evidence for what we now call dark matter.

Description and Details: Taken on Feb 13-14, this 11-hour image of the Coma Cluster (Abel 1656) was captured on my Carbonstar 150, Zwo 585 mc pro, and was shot all on broadband.

The Coma Cluster is a large galaxy cluster in the constellation Coma Berenices and features hundreds of tiny galaxies.

Name: levin green