Bullet Cluster

The bullet cluster is located at about 4 billion light years from
Earth. Can we resolve individual stars at that distance, given
the luminosity of the colliding gas?

The bullet cluster is the new "unequivocal proof" of Dark Matter,
but it has not been stated where the stars (and planets) were
actually located. Simply left as assumption that they were also
braked by the collision...

David A. Smith

N:dlzc D:aol T:com (dlzc) wrote:
The bullet cluster is located at about 4 billion light years from
Earth. Can we resolve individual stars at that distance, given
the luminosity of the colliding gas?

The bullet cluster is the new "unequivocal proof" of Dark Matter,
but it has not been stated where the stars (and planets) were
actually located. Simply left as assumption that they were also
braked by the collision...

David A. Smith


This is a very good question: do stars and planetary-sized objects get
held back or go with the dark matter flow?

So far the limited information I have seen only says that gas and dust
are held back. Detecting individual stars at that distance seems
impossible, but we should be able to distinguish and locate their
collective radiation.

We may have to wait for their paper in ApJL to know the details.

The bullet cluster is located at about 4 billion light years from
Earth. Can we resolve individual stars at that distance, given
the luminosity of the colliding gas?

No.

.... Detecting individual stars at that distance seems
impossible, but we should be able to distinguish and locate their
collective radiation.

The simplified version is: visible light shows where the
stars are -- and, by inference, any planets, though they
would not be expected to amount to any significant mass.
Use a simple mass-to-light ratio to convert the visible light
into mass.

X-ray emission shows where the hot gas is. Use models
to determine the mass of the hot gas.

Michael Richmond