Norma Cluster (Great Attractor)

A massive cluster hidden behind the plane of the Milky Way, at the heart of the Great Attractor, the concentration of mass that the Local Group and its neighbours are flowing toward.

Placed by its redshift, at the distance the expansion has carried it to by now; the dots around it are galaxies of the 2MASS and SDSS surveys, placed the same way.

From the Sun

234 million ly

Redshift

0.0162

RA / Dec

243.60° / -60.87°

The Norma Cluster (ACO 3627 or Abell 3627) is a rich cluster of galaxies located near the center of the Great Attractor; it is about 68 Mpc (222 Mly) distant. Although it is both nearby and bright, it is difficult to observe because it is located in the Zone of Avoidance, a region near the plane of the Milky Way. Consequently, the cluster is severely obscured by interstellar dust at optical wavelengths.

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