Virgo Cluster showing the diffuse light between member galaxies. Messier 87 is the largest galaxy (lower left).
Observation data (Epoch J2000)
Constellation(s)
Virgo & Coma Berenices
Right ascension
12h 27m[1]
Declination
+12° 43′[1]
Brightest member
Messier 49
Number of galaxies
~1,500[1]
Parent structure
Virgo Supercluster
Bautz–Morgan classification
III[1]
Binding mass
1015M☉
See also: Galaxy group, Galaxy cluster, List of galaxy groups and clusters
The Virgo Cluster is a large cluster of galaxies whose center is 53.8 ± 0.3 Mly (16.5 ± 0.1 Mpc)[2] away in the constellation Virgo. Comprising approximately 1,300 (and possibly up to 2,000) member galaxies,[3] the cluster forms the heart of the larger Virgo Supercluster, of which the Local Group (containing our Milky Way galaxy) is a member. The Local Group actually experiences the mass of the Virgo Supercluster as the Virgocentric flow. It is estimated that the Virgo Cluster's mass is 1.2×1015M☉ out to 8 degrees of the cluster's center or a radius of about 2.2 Mpc.[4]
Many of the brighter galaxies in this cluster, including the giant elliptical galaxy Messier 87, were discovered in the late 1770s and early 1780s and subsequently included in Charles Messier's catalogue of non-cometary fuzzy objects. Described by Messier as nebulae without stars, their true nature was not recognized until the 1920s.[A]
The cluster subtends a maximum arc of approximately 8 degrees centered in the constellation Virgo. Although some of the cluster's most prominent members can be seen with smaller instruments, a 6-inch telescope will reveal about 160 of the cluster's galaxies on a clear night. Its brightest member is the elliptical galaxy Messier 49; however its most famous member is the elliptical galaxy Messier 87, which is located in the center of the cluster.[6]
^ abcd"NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for Virgo Cluster. Retrieved 2006-10-19.
^Mei, Simona; Blakeslee, John P.; Côté, Patrick; Tonry, John L.; West, Michael J.; Ferrarese, Laura; Jordán, Andrés; Peng, Eric W.; Anthony, André; Merritt, Davi (2007). "The ACS Virgo Cluster Survey. XIII. SBF Distance Catalog and the Three-dimensional Structure of the Virgo Cluster". The Astrophysical Journal. 655 (1): 144–162. arXiv:astro-ph/0702510. Bibcode:2007ApJ...655..144M. doi:10.1086/509598. S2CID 16483538.
^"Virgo Cluster". Cosmos. Swinburne University of Technology.
^Fouqué, P.; Solanes, J. M.; Sanchis, T.; Balkowski, C. (2001). "Structure, mass and distance of the Virgo cluster from a Tolman-Bondi model". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 375 (3): 770–780. arXiv:astro-ph/0106261. Bibcode:2001A&A...375..770F. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20010833. S2CID 10468717.
^"Messier 91 — Observations and Descriptions". SEDS.
^"Virgo Cluster | Messier Objects". www.messier-objects.com. 9 August 2017. Retrieved 2018-06-24.
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The VirgoCluster is a large cluster of galaxies whose center is 53.8 ± 0.3 Mly (16.5 ± 0.1 Mpc) away in the constellation Virgo. Comprising approximately...
The Virgo Supercluster (Virgo SC) or the Local Supercluster (LSC or LS) was a formerly defined supercluster containing the VirgoCluster and Local Group...
away[a] in the constellation Virgo. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1781. Messier 90 is a member of the VirgoCluster, being one of its largest and...
Mi Vida Local, 2018 Virgo (constellation), a constellation VirgoCluster, a cluster of galaxies in the constellation VirgoVirgo Stellar Stream, remains...
light-years) from Earth and is the second-brightest galaxy within the northern VirgoCluster, having many satellite galaxies. Unlike a disk-shaped spiral galaxy...
Coma Berenices contains the northern portion of the VirgoCluster (also known as the Coma–VirgoCluster), about 60 million light-years away. The portion...
group (which contains more than 54 galaxies), which in turn is part of the Virgo Supercluster, which is part of the Laniakea Supercluster, which is part...
Swelling Spiral Galaxy) is an intermediate barred spiral galaxy in the VirgoCluster of galaxies. It was first discovered by Barnaba Oriani on May 5, 1779...
This galaxy forms part of the smaller Virgo B subcluster 4.5° away from the dynamic center of the VirgoCluster, centered on Messier 87. Messier 49 is...
Galaxies Hickson Compact Group List of Abell clusters List of galaxy superclusters Lyons Groups of Galaxies Virgo Supercluster Clavin, Whitney; Jenkins, Ann;...
of the Virgocluster by the Next Generation VirgoCluster Survey team. The first ever relatively robust studies of the global properties of Virgo UCDs suggest...
collaboration. The interferometer is named after the VirgoCluster, a cluster of about 1,500 galaxies in the Virgo constellation, about 50 million light-years...
et al. (2007). "The ACS VirgoCluster Survey. XIII. SBF Distance Catalog and the Three-dimensional Structure of the VirgoCluster". The Astrophysical Journal...
being inadequate to create a feedback (in contrast to the Perseus and Virgoclusters). This is further supported by the high starburst activity of the central...
List of galaxy groups and clusters Coma Cluster Eridanus Cluster Fornax ClusterVirgoCluster X-ray astronomy "Norma Cluster". NASA/IPAC Extragalactic...
galaxy in the constellation Virgo. It was discovered by Charles Messier on March 18, 1781. M89 is a member of the VirgoCluster of galaxies. Current observations...
discovery of intergalactic stars. The first to be discovered were in the Virgocluster of galaxies, where some one trillion are now surmised to exist. The...
making it the second richest galaxy cluster within 100 million light-years, after the considerably larger VirgoCluster. It may be associated with the nearby...
Coma Berenices. It is one of the brightest and largest galaxies in the VirgoCluster and is approximately 55 million light-years from our galaxy, its diameter...
galaxy in the constellation Virgo. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1781. M86 lies in the heart of the VirgoCluster of galaxies and forms a most...
et al. (February 2012), "Studies of the VirgoCluster. II – A catalog of 2096 galaxies in the VirgoCluster area", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical...
is one of many groups that lies within the Virgo Supercluster (the combined Local Group and Virgocluster). The table below lists galaxies that have been...
Galaxy groups and clusters are the largest known gravitationally bound objects to have arisen thus far in the process of cosmic structure formation. They...
Coma Berenices. It is in the local supercluster and is part of the VirgoCluster of galaxies. It is about 63 million light-years away from our galaxy...
to NGC 4435. NGC 4438 is the most curious interacting galaxy in the VirgoCluster, due to the uncertainty surrounding the energy mechanism that heats...
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