The Centaurus Cluster (Clusters of Galaxies)
Several rich clusters are known in the southern hemisphere, and one of the most prominent lies in the constellation of Centaurus. Some tens of its member galaxies have had redshifts measured and the mean of 3740kms-1 implies a distance of about 50Mpc. The velocity dispersion is about 950 kms-1 .
The distribution of galaxies in the Centaurus cluster is irregular and exhibits two major concentrations, so it is possible that it consists of two separate; clusters close to each other by chance. Near one of the peaks lies NOG’4696, an elliptical galaxy with an associated radio source. The X-ray emission from the Centaurus cluster is rather weak when compared with the Perseus cluster, and there appears to be a concentration in the vicinity of NGC4696.