Hydra Cluster


The Hydra Cluster is a galaxy cluster that contains 157 bright galaxies, appearing in the constellation Hydra. The cluster spans about ten million light-years and has an unusually high proportion of dark matter. The cluster is part of the Hydra-Centaurus Supercluster located 158 million light-years from Earth. The cluster's largest galaxies are elliptical galaxies NGC 3309 and NGC 3311 and the spiral galaxy NGC 3312 all having a diameter of about 150,000 light-years.
In spite of a nearly circular appearance on the sky, there is evidence in the galaxy velocities for a clumpy, three-dimensional distribution.

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