Virgo Cluster

The Virgo Cluster is a <a href="/facts/Galaxy_cluster/BhIEgbx8">cluster of galaxies</a> whose center is <a href="/facts/100_zettametres/YzL1bHGX">53.8 ± 0.3</a> <a href="/facts/Light_year/IGc5NdQb">Mly</a> (16.5 ± 0.1 <a href="/facts/Parsec/SwSsk57J">Mpc</a>) away in the <a href="/facts/Virgo_(constellation)/4bcIqNfd">Virgo constellation</a>. Comprising approximately 1,300 (and possibly up to 2,000) member galaxies, the cluster forms the heart of the larger <a href="/facts/Virgo_Supercluster/kUNskKbo">Virgo Supercluster</a>, of which the <a href="/facts/Local_Group/kjUefCLr">Local Group</a> (containing the <a href="/facts/Milky_Way/ulF6lccN">Milky Way galaxy</a>) is a member. The Local Group actually experiences the mass of the Virgo Supercluster as the <a href="/facts/Virgocentric_flow/UlAyt0Sg">Virgocentric flow</a>. It is estimated that the Virgo Cluster's mass is 1.2×1015 <a href="/facts/Solar_mass/j6Auhku8">M☉</a> out to 8 degrees of the cluster's center or a radius of about 2.2 Mpc.
Many of the brighter galaxies in this cluster, including the giant <a href="/facts/Elliptical_galaxy/1PUchrj1">elliptical galaxy</a> <a href="/facts/Messier_87/x8Q1M5p4">Messier 87</a>, were discovered in the late 1770s and early 1780s and subsequently included in <a href="/facts/Charles_Messier/dTokW7Yy">Charles Messier</a>'s catalogue of non-cometary fuzzy objects. Described by Messier as <a href="/facts/Nebula/hG6coklY">nebulae</a> without stars, their true nature was not recognized until the 1920s.
The cluster extends across approximately 8 degrees centered in the constellation Virgo. Some of its most prominent members can be seen with binoculars and small telescopes, while a 6-inch telescope will reveal about 160 of the cluster's galaxies on a clear night. Its <a href="/facts/Brightest_cluster_galaxy/0n74Vo3W">brightest member</a> is the <a href="/facts/Elliptical_galaxy/1PUchrj1">elliptical galaxy</a> <a href="/facts/Messier_49/xtgYtjqo">Messier 49</a>.

Virgo Cluster open-in-new

Virgo Cluster