The fuzzy object at the centre of the frame is one of the galaxy clusters observed by XMM-Newton in its investigation of the distant Universe. The cluster, designated RXJ0847.2+3449, is about 7000 million light years away, so we see it here as it was 7000 million years ago, when the Universe was only about half of its present age. This cluster is made up of several dozen galaxies
One of three XMM-Newton mirror modules in ESA's XMM-Newton Satellite, flight model. Each one contains 58 mirrors with a total telescope optical surface of more than 120 m2 – bigger than a tennis court.
