3C295: Radio galaxy (optical) 30/08/1999
3C295 (Cl 1409+524) is one of the most distant galaxy clusters observed by X-ray telescopes. The cluster is filled with a vast cloud of fifty million degree gas that radiates strongly in X rays. It has a redshift of 0.461, which means that we see the galaxy cluster as it was 5 billion years ago.
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Image Credit: NASA, HST, A.Dressler
  
3C295 (Cl 1409+524) is one of the most distant
galaxy clusters observed by X-ray telescopes. The cluster is filled with a vast cloud of fifty million degree gas that radiates strongly in X rays. It has a redshift of 0.461, which means that we see the galaxy cluster as it was 5 billion years ago. 3C295 was first discovered as a bright source of radio waves. The source of the radio emission was found to be a giant elliptical galaxy located in the center of the cluster of galaxies. Chandra discovered that this central galaxy is a strong, complex source of X rays.

Scale: Image is 42 arcsec on a side.

In the optical image 3C295 appears as a giant elliptical galaxy that is twice as luminous as our Milky Way galaxy. The galaxy extends beyond the X ray and radio lobes. The center, or nucleus of the galaxy is not nearly as prominent as in X rays, although optical observations do provide evidence for a large amount of gas at temperatures of about 10,000 degrees, which is apparently heated by ultraviolet and X radiation from the nucleus.
  
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