The Evolving Universe

Smithsonian Institution

Bullet Cluster • 1E0657-56

Bullet image

Credit: NASA/CXC/CfA,STScI,U.Az

Observers: Maxim Markevitch, D. Clowe

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  • Distance from Earth: 3.3 billion light years
  • Size: 3 million light years
  • Telescope: Chandra, Magellan
  • Light: X-ray (pink), Visible (white, orange)

A Universe of Galaxies

What Was Happening Then?

Light from the Bullet Cluster takes 3.3 billion years to reach Earth.

When the light we observe now left the Bullet Cluster, Earth's atmosphere contained no oxygen, and single-cell life was just forming.

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