The Antlia Cluster is a cluster of galaxies

Galaxy groups and clusters

Galaxy groups and clusters are the largest known gravitationally bound objects to have arisen thus far in the process of cosmic structure formation. They form the densest part of the large scale structure of the universe...

 located in the Hydra-Centaurus Supercluster

Hydra-Centaurus Supercluster

The Hydra-Centaurus Supercluster , or the Hydra and Centaurus superclusters, is a supercluster in two parts and the closest neighbour of Milky Way's Virgo Supercluster....

. The Antlia Cluster is the third nearest to our Local Group

Local Group

The Local Group is the group of galaxies that includes Earth's galaxy, the Milky Way. The group comprises more than 30 galaxies , with its gravitational center located somewhere between the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy...

 after the Virgo Cluster

Virgo Cluster

The Virgo Cluster is a cluster of galaxies whose center is 53.8 ± 0.3 Mly away in the constellation Virgo. Comprising approximately 1300 member galaxies, the cluster forms the heart of the larger Local Supercluster, of which the Local Group is an outlying member...

 and Fornax Cluster

Fornax Cluster

At a distance of approximately 62.0 Mly , the Fornax Cluster is the second richest cluster of galaxies within 100 million light-years, although it is much smaller than the Virgo Cluster. It lies primarily in the constellation Fornax, and may be associated with the nearby Eridanus Group...

. The cluster's distance from earth is 32.58 - 32.71 Mly

Light-year

A light-year, also light year or lightyear is a unit of length, equal to just under 10 trillion kilometres...

  away and can be viewed from earth in the Constellation Antlia

Antlia

Antlia is a constellation in the southern sky. Its name means "pump" and it specifically represents an air pump. The stars comprising Antlia are faint, and the constellation was not created until the 18th century...

. The Antlia Cluster should not be confused with the Antlia Dwarf

Antlia Dwarf

The Antlia Dwarf is a dwarf spheroidal/irregular galaxy. It lies about 1.3 Mpc from Earth in the constellation Antlia. It is the fourth and faintest member of the nearby Antlia Group of galaxies. The galaxy contains stars of all ages, contains significant amounts of gas, and has experienced...

 Galaxy.

The cluster is classified, as a rare Bautz-morgan type III cluster , meaning the cluster has no dominating brightest cluster galaxy

Brightest cluster galaxy

Brightest cluster galaxy is defined as the brightest galaxy in a cluster of galaxies. BCGs include the most massive galaxies in the universe. They are generally elliptical galaxies which lie close to the geometric and kinematical center of their host galaxy cluster, hence at the bottom of the...

 (cD). Although, this cluster is dominated by two massive elliptical galaxies, NGC 3268

NGC 3268

NGC 3268 is an elliptical galaxy in the constellation Antlia. It is a member of the Antlia Cluster, which lies about 98 million light years away....

 and NGC 3258

NGC 3258

NGC 3258 is an elliptical galaxy in the constellation Antlia. It is a member of the Antlia Cluster, which lies about 98 million light years away....

, the cluster has about 234 galaxies in total. The cluster is very dense compared to other clusters such as Virgo and Fornax, thus containing early-type galaxies and a larger portion of dwarf ellipticals. The Cluster is split into two groups, The Northern subgroup gravitating around NGC 3268, and the Southern subgroup centered around NGC 3258.

The cluster has an overall redshift

Redshift

In physics , redshift happens when light seen coming from an object is proportionally increased in wavelength, or shifted to the red end of the spectrum...

 of z = 0.0087, implying the cluster like most objects in the universe are expanding away from our Local group

Local Group

The Local Group is the group of galaxies that includes Earth's galaxy, the Milky Way. The group comprises more than 30 galaxies , with its gravitational center located somewhere between the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy...

 and others. Using the now obsolete scientific satellite ASCA

Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics

ASCA is the fourth cosmic X-ray astronomy mission by Japan's , and the second for which the United States is providing part of the scientific payload. The satellite was successfully launched on February 20, 1993. The first eight months of the ASCA mission were devoted to performance verification...

 , X-ray

X-ray

X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...

 observations show the cluster is almost isothermal, with a mean temperature of kT ~ 2.0 keV.

Antila Galaxies: NGC 3267

NGC 3267

NGC 3267 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation Antlia. It is a member of the Antlia Cluster, which lies about 98 million light years away....

, NGC 3568, NGC 3258

NGC 3258

NGC 3258 is an elliptical galaxy in the constellation Antlia. It is a member of the Antlia Cluster, which lies about 98 million light years away....

, NGC 3269

NGC 3269

NGC 3269 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation Antlia. It is a member of the Antlia Cluster, which lies about 98 million light years away....

, NGC 3271

NGC 3271

NGC 3271 is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Antlia. At magnitude 11.7, it is the brightest spiral galaxy in the Antlia Cluster, which lies about 98 million light years away....