The Perseus Galaxy Cluster

 

The Perseus Cluster of Galaxies. PIRATE robotic telescope.
BVR filters and Clear filter for luminance in LRGB format.
Data credit: telescope.org. Open Observatories, Open University.
Image Credit Kurt Thrust at the JPO.

Annotation by astrometry net.

" Kurt was so impressed with the Euclid Space Telescope images of the Perseus Galaxy Cluster that he decided to direct the PIRATE robotic telescope on Tenerife to image this impressive grouping of all types of galaxies. It's a proper galaxy zoo!". - Joel Cairo CEO of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

Follow link for ESA Euclid images of the Perseus Galaxy Cluster.

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Euclid/Euclid_s_view_of_the_Perseus_cluster_of_galaxies

Abell 426

"The Perseus Galaxy Group, more properly recognized as the Perseus Cluster (Abell 426), is one of the most massive and dynamically active galaxy aggregations in the nearby universe. Situated at a distance of approximately 70–75 megaparsecs (about 230 million light-years) in the direction of the constellation Perseus, this cluster forms a prominent node within the Perseus–Pisces Supercluster, a sprawling filamentary structure of galaxies and dark matter that spans hundreds of millions of light-years.

At its core lies the giant cD galaxy NGC 1275 (Perseus A), an active radio galaxy whose nucleus harbors a supermassive black hole with a mass on the order of hundreds of millions of solar masses. NGC 1275 dominates the cluster both optically and in the X-ray regime. It is enveloped by vast networks of filamentary gas—cool, ionized structures extending tens of kiloparsecs—that intertwine with regions of intense radio emission. These filaments are sustained by the interplay between radiative cooling of the intracluster medium (ICM) and feedback processes driven by the active galactic nucleus (AGN). Periodic outbursts from the central black hole inflate radio bubbles within the hot, X-ray–emitting plasma, generating acoustic ripples or weak shocks that dissipate energy into the surrounding medium.

The Perseus Cluster’s intracluster gas is among the brightest X-ray sources in the sky. Observations with Chandra and XMM-Newton reveal a turbulent, magnetized medium heated to temperatures exceeding 50 million Kelvin. The cluster’s X-ray brightness profile shows a cool-core structure, in which radiative cooling in the central region is partially balanced by AGN heating. This feedback equilibrium has made Perseus a benchmark system for the study of baryonic physics in galaxy clusters, particularly the regulation of cooling flows and star formation in massive galaxies.

Dynamically, the cluster exhibits evidence of ongoing mergers and substructure. The galaxy population includes a mix of massive ellipticals and lenticulars embedded in a diffuse halo of dark matter, with spirals more common at the periphery. The system is still accreting material from the surrounding cosmic web, and the gravitational potential well is deep enough to trap gas, galaxies, and dark matter alike within a region several megaparsecs across.

Beyond its astrophysical complexity, the Perseus Cluster serves as a natural laboratory for cosmic plasma physics and structure formation. The cluster’s large-scale gas motions, its feedback-regulated core, and its radio–X-ray interplay collectively render it one of the most intensively studied extragalactic systems. From the cool filaments of NGC 1275 to the hot, turbulent halo that envelopes hundreds of galaxies, Perseus stands as a vivid embodiment of the multi-scale, multi-phase nature of the universe’s largest bound structures". - Prof G.P.T. Chat visiting astrophysicist at the Jodrell Plank Observatory