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ESO 146-5
ESO 146-5 as seen by HST. The extended blue structures surrounding the central galaxies are gravitationally lensed views of a much more distant galaxy behind the cluster.
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation	Indus
Right ascension	22 01 53.306
Declination	−59° 56′ 43.373″
Redshift	0.10083
Distance	1.4 Gly
Characteristics
Type	E
Mass	(2.7±0.4)×10 M☉
Other designations
APMBGC 146+076+007, ENACS ACO 3827 11, 2MASX J22015330-5956437

ESO 146-5 (ESO 146-IG 005) is the designation given to a giant interacting elliptical galaxy in the center of the Abell 3827 cluster. It is well noted due to its strong gravitational lensing effect, measurements of which show the galaxy to be one of the most massive in the known universe.

Physical characteristics

This interacting galaxy was found 1.4 billion light years away in the center of Abell 3827. A huge halo of stars is surrounding its interacting nuclei. It has immense gravity that holds the cluster together due to its mass. Its unusual shape has led to the conclusion that each one of the nuclei was formed from multiple collisions of smaller galaxies, and now the nuclei are merging to form a single huge elliptical galaxy.

Gravitational lensing calculations appeared to show that there is a large dark matter mass lagging the top left nucleus, possibly explained by it being self-interacting dark matter. However, this finding has since been discounted based on further observations and modelling of the cluster.

Mass

Observations from the Gemini South Telescope has shown that ESO 146-5 has gravitationally lensed two galaxies, a galaxy 2.7 billion light years away, and the other, 5.1 billion light years away. Using Einstein's theory of general relativity, it was measured to be approximately 27 ± 4 trillion solar masses, making it one of the most massive galaxies in the known universe.

Gallery

• This detailed image features Abell 3827.

References

1. ^ "SIMBAD query result". Basic data for ESO 146-5.
2. ^ Durrer, R., & Parnovsky, S. (2023). Catastrophic Dark Matter Particle Capture, 11. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2208.08843.pdf
3. Richard Massey; et al. (June 2015). "The behaviour of dark matter associated with four bright cluster galaxies in the 10 kpc core of Abell 3827". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 449 (4P): 3393–3406. arXiv:1504.03388. Bibcode:2015MNRAS.449.3393M. doi:10.1093/mnras/stv467. commentary The Possible First Signs of Self-interacting Dark Matter
4. Massey, Richard; et al. (August 2017), "Dark matter dynamics in Abell 3827: New data consistent with standard cold dark matter", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 477: 669–677, arXiv:1708.04245, doi:10.1093/mnras/sty630
5. Grossman, Lisa (April 5, 2018), "Dark matter isn't interacting with itself after all", ScienceNews, Society for Science & the Public, retrieved 2018-04-05.
6. "Our Giant Universe". Retrieved May 10, 2021.

Further reading

• The Possible First Signs of Self-interacting Dark Matter. April 2015 in the "10 kpc core of Abell 3827" reporting on :
  • Richard Massey; et al. (June 2015). "The behaviour of dark matter associated with four bright cluster galaxies in the 10 kpc core of Abell 3827". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 449 (4P): 3393–3406. arXiv:1504.03388. Bibcode:2015MNRAS.449.3393M. doi:10.1093/mnras/stv467.

v t e Constellation of Indus
List of stars in Indus Indus in Chinese astronomy
Stars	Bayer α (the Persian) β γ δ ε ζ η θ ι κ κ μ ο π ρ Variable T HR 8269 8331 Other ASASSN-V J213939.3-702817.4 LHS 3844 WASP-46 WASP-88
Exoplanets LHS 3844 b (Kua'kua) ε Indi Ab ρ Indi b
Galaxies	NGC 6984 7002 7004 7007 7014 7022 7029 7038 7041 B 7049 7061 7064 7083 7090 7096 7124 7191 7196 7199 Other ESO 146-5 ESO 235-58 IC 5152
Galaxy clusters Abell 3742 SPT-CL J2106-5844
Astronomical events ASASSN-15lh GRB 060614 GRB 100621A
Category

• Indus (constellation)
• Elliptical galaxies