China lays claim to 'biggest' catalogue of galaxy clusters

New Delhi, Apr 2 (ANI): Chinese astronomers say they have finished a new catalogue of more than 130,000 galaxy clusters, which makes it the biggest record of such cosmic phenomena.

Galaxy clusters are known as the largest gravitationally bound objects in the universe.

The previously biggest catalogue, containing 69,173 clusters, was published in 2011 by American scientists.

The new 132,684-cluster catalogue was also identified from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data, according to a Sunday statement from the National Astronomical Observatories (NAO) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, English.news.cn reported.

The discovery of more clusters would contribute to the researches on dark matter and large-scale structure of the universe, according to the statement.

It also said that the finding has been published on the latest issue of the Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series (ApJS). (ANI)