The Virgo Supercluster (Virgo SC) or the Local Supercluster (LSC or LS) is a mass concentration of

galaxies A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, dark matter, bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar System. ...

containing the

Virgo Cluster The Virgo Cluster 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 1,300 (and possibly up to 2,000) member galaxies, the cluster forms the heart of the lar ...

and

Local Group The Local Group is the galaxy group that includes the Milky Way. It has a total diameter of roughly , and a total mass of the order of . It consists of two collections of galaxies in a "dumbbell" shape: the Milky Way and its satellites form ...

, which itself contains the

Milky Way The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye ...

and Andromeda galaxies, as well as others. At least 100

galaxy group A galaxy group or group of galaxies (GrG) is an aggregation of galaxies comprising about 50 or fewer gravitationally bound members, each at least as luminous as the Milky Way (about 1010 times the luminosity of the Sun); collections of galaxie ...

s and clusters are located within its diameter of 33

megaparsecs The parsec (symbol: pc) is a unit of length used to measure the large distances to astronomical objects outside the Solar System, approximately equal to or (au), i.e. . The parsec unit is obtained by the use of parallax and trigonometry, an ...

(110 million

light-years A light-year, alternatively spelled light year, is a large unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equivalent to about 9.46 trillion kilometers (), or 5.88 trillion miles ().One trillion here is taken to be 1012 ...

). The Virgo SC is one of about 10 million

supercluster A supercluster is a large group of smaller galaxy clusters or galaxy groups; they are among the largest known structures in the universe. The Milky Way is part of the Local Group galaxy group (which contains more than 54 galaxies), which in turn ...

s in the

observable universe The observable universe is a ball-shaped region of the universe comprising all matter that can be observed from Earth or its space-based telescopes and exploratory probes at the present time, because the electromagnetic radiation from these obj ...

and is in the

Pisces–Cetus Supercluster Complex The Pisces–Cetus Supercluster Complex is a galaxy filament. It includes the Laniakea Supercluster which contains the Virgo Supercluster lobe which in turn contains the Local Group, the galaxy cluster that includes the Milky Way. This filament ...

, a

galaxy filament In cosmology, galaxy filaments (subtypes: supercluster complexes, galaxy walls, and galaxy sheets) Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravtsov, Vladimir N. Lukash; "The search and investigation of the Large Groups of Quasars" ; ;R.G. Clowes; "Large Qu ...

. A 2014 study indicates that the Virgo Supercluster is only a lobe of an even greater supercluster, Laniakea, a larger, competing referent of the term Local Supercluster centered on the

Great Attractor The Great Attractor is a gravitational anomaly in intergalactic space and the apparent central gravitational point of the Laniakea Supercluster. The observed anomalies suggest a localized concentration of mass millions of times more massive than ...

Background

Beginning with the first large sample of

nebula A nebula ('cloud' or 'fog' in Latin; pl. nebulae, nebulæ or nebulas) is a distinct luminescent part of interstellar medium, which can consist of ionized, neutral or molecular hydrogen and also cosmic dust. Nebulae are often star-forming regio ...

e published by

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

and

John Herschel Sir John Frederick William Herschel, 1st Baronet (; 7 March 1792 – 11 May 1871) was an English polymath active as a mathematician, astronomer, chemist, inventor, experimental photographer who invented the blueprint and did botanical wor ...

in 1863, it was known that there is a marked excess of nebular fields in the constellation

Virgo Virgo may refer to: *Virgo (astrology), the sixth astrological sign of the zodiac *Virgo (constellation), a constellation *Virgo Cluster, a cluster of galaxies in the constellation Virgo *Virgo Stellar Stream, remains of a dwarf galaxy *Virgo Supe ...

(near the north

galactic pole The galactic coordinate system is a celestial coordinate system in spherical coordinates, with the Sun as its center, the primary direction aligned with the approximate center of the Milky Way Galaxy, and the fundamental plane parallel to an ap ...

). In the 1950s, French–American astronomer

Gérard de Vaucouleurs Gérard Henri de Vaucouleurs (25 April 1918 – 7 October 1995) was a French astronomer. Life and career Born in Paris, he had an early interest in amateur astronomy and received his undergraduate degree in 1939 at the Sorbonne in that city. ...

was the first to argue that this excess represented a large-scale galaxy-like structure, coining the term "Local Supergalaxy" in 1953, which he changed to "Local Supercluster" (LSC) in 1958. (

Harlow Shapley Harlow Shapley (November 2, 1885 – October 20, 1972) was an American scientist, head of the Harvard College Observatory (1921–1952), and political activist during the latter New Deal and Fair Deal. Shapley used Cepheid variable stars to estim ...

, in his 1959 book ''Of Stars and Men'', suggested the term ''Metagalaxy''.) Debate went on during the 1960s and 1970s as to whether the Local Supercluster (LS) was actually a structure or a chance alignment of galaxies. The issue was resolved with the large redshift surveys of the late 1970s and early 1980s, which convincingly showed the flattened concentration of galaxies along the supergalactic plane.

Structure

In a comprehensive 1982 paper, R. Brent Tully presented the conclusions of his research concerning the basic structure of the LS. It consists of two components: an appreciably flattened disk containing two-thirds of the supercluster's luminous galaxies, and a roughly spherical halo containing the remaining one-third. The disk itself is a thin (~1 Mpc) ellipsoid with a long axis / short axis ratio of at least 6 to 1, and possibly as high as 9 to 1. Data released in June 2003 from the 5-year Two-degree-Field Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dF) has allowed astronomers to compare the LS to other superclusters. The LS represents a typical poor (that is, lacking a high density core) supercluster of rather small size. It has one rich galaxy cluster in the center, surrounded by filaments of galaxies and poor groups. The

is located on the outskirts of the LS in a small filament extending from the

Fornax Cluster The Fornax Cluster is a cluster of galaxies lying at a distance of 19 megaparsecs (62 million light-years). It has an estimated mass of solar masses, making it the second richest galaxy cluster within 100 million light-years, after the consider ...

to the

. The Virgo Supercluster's volume is very approximately 7000 times that of the Local Group or 100 billion times that of the Milky Way.

Galaxy distribution

The

number density The number density (symbol: ''n'' or ''ρ''N) is an intensive quantity used to describe the degree of concentration of countable objects (particles, molecules, phonons, cells, galaxies, etc.) in physical space: three-dimensional volumetric number ...

of galaxies in the LS falls off with the square of the distance from its center near the

, suggesting that this cluster is not randomly located. Overall, the vast majority of the luminous galaxies (less than

absolute magnitude Absolute magnitude () is a measure of the luminosity of a celestial object on an inverse Logarithmic scale, logarithmic Magnitude (astronomy), astronomical magnitude scale. An object's absolute magnitude is defined to be equal to the apparent mag ...

−13) are concentrated in a small number of

clouds In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may com ...

(groups of

galaxy cluster A galaxy cluster, or a cluster of galaxies, is a structure that consists of anywhere from hundreds to thousands of galaxies that are bound together by gravity, with typical masses ranging from 1014 to 1015 solar masses. They are the second-l ...

s). Ninety-eight percent can be found in the following 11 clouds (given in decreasing order of number of luminous galaxies):

Canes Venatici Canes Venatici () is one of the IAU designated constellations, 88 constellations designated by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). It is a small northern constellation that was created by Johannes Hevelius in the 17th century. Its name is ...

, Virgo Cluster, Virgo II (southern extension), Leo II, Virgo III, Crater ( NGC 3672),

Leo I The LEO I (Lyons Electronic Office I) was the first computer used for commercial business applications. The prototype LEO I was modelled closely on the Cambridge EDSAC. Its construction was overseen by Oliver Standingford, Raymond Thompson and ...

, Leo Minor (

NGC 2841 NGC 2841 is an unbarred spiral galaxy in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Major. It was discovered on 9 March 1788 by German-born astronomer William Herschel. J. L. E. Dreyer, the author of the ''New General Catalogue'', described ...

), Draco (

NGC 5907 NGC 5907 (also known as Knife Edge Galaxy or Splinter Galaxy) is a spiral galaxy located approximately 50 million light years from Earth. It has an anomalously low metallicity and few detectable giant stars, being apparently composed almost e ...

), Antlia (

NGC 2997 NGC 2997 is a face-on unbarred spiral galaxy about 40 million light-years away in the faint southern constellation of Antlia. It was discovered March 4, 1793 by German-born astronomer William Herschel. John Louis Emil Dreyer, J. L. E. Dreyer ...

), and NGC 5643. Of the luminous galaxies located in the disk, one third are in the Virgo Cluster, while the remainder are found in the Canes Venatici Cloud and Virgo II Cloud, plus the somewhat insignificant NGC 5643 Group. The luminous galaxies in the halo are also concentrated in a small number of clouds (94% in 7 clouds). This distribution indicates that "most of the volume of the supergalactic plane is a great void." A helpful analogy that matches the observed distribution is that of soap bubbles. Flattish clusters and superclusters are found at the intersection of bubbles, which are large, roughly spherical (on the order of 20–60 Mpc in diameter) voids in space. Long filamentary structures seem to predominate. An example of this is the

Hydra–Centaurus Supercluster The Hydra-Centaurus Supercluster (SCl 128), or the Hydra and Centaurus Superclusters, is a supercluster in two parts, the closest neighbour of Virgo Supercluster. Hydra-Centaurus The cluster includes four large galaxy clusters in the Centaurus p ...

, the nearest supercluster to the LS, which starts at a distance of roughly 30 Mpc and extends to 60 Mpc.

Cosmology

Large-scale dynamics

Since the late 1980s it has been apparent that not only the

, but all matter out to a distance of at least 50 Mpc is experiencing a bulk flow on the order of 600 km/s in the direction of the Norma Cluster (Abell 3627). Lynden-Bell et al. (1988) dubbed the cause of this the "

". The Great Attractor is now understood to be the center of mass of an even larger structure of galaxy clusters, dubbed " Laniakea", which includes the Virgo Supercluster (including the Local Group) as well as the Hydra-Centaurus Supercluster, the Pavo-Indus Supercluster, and the Fornax Group. The Great Attractor, together with the entire supercluster, is found to be moving toward Shapley Supercluster, with center of

Shapley Attractor The Shapley attractor is an attractor located about the Shapley Supercluster. It is opposed to the Dipole Repeller, in the CMB dipole of local galactic flow. It is thought to be the composite contributions of the Shapley Concentration and the ...

Dark matter

The LS has a total mass ''M'' ≈ 10¹⁵ and a total optical luminosity ''L'' ≈ 3 . This yields a

mass-to-light ratio In astrophysics and physical cosmology the mass-to-light ratio, normally designated with the Greek letter upsilon, , is the quotient between the total mass of a spatial volume (typically on the scales of a galaxy or a cluster) and its luminosity. T ...

of about 300 times that of the solar ratio (/ = 1), a figure that is consistent with results obtained for other superclusters. By comparison, the

for the

is 63.8 assuming a solar

of 4.83, a Milky Way absolute magnitude of −20.9, and a Milky Way mass of . These ratios are one of the main arguments in favor of the presence of large amounts of

dark matter Dark matter is a hypothetical form of matter thought to account for approximately 85% of the matter in the universe. Dark matter is called "dark" because it does not appear to interact with the electromagnetic field, which means it does not ab ...

in the universe; if dark matter did not exist, much smaller mass-to-light ratios would be expected.

Maps

File:Virgosupercluster atlasoftheuniverse.gif, frame, center, Map of the nearby universe within 100 million light-years from Earth, including a portion of the

Southern Supercluster Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, ...

at the bottom left and the Virgo Supercluster on the right in supergalactic coordinates (click on feature names for more information) circle 473 220 33

circle 339 230 16

Centaurus A/M83 Group The Centaurus A/M83 Group is a complex group of galaxies in the constellations Hydra, Centaurus, and Virgo. The group may be roughly divided into two subgroups. The Cen A Subgroup, at a distance of 11.9 Mly (3.66 Mpc), is centered on Centauru ...

circle 349 252 15

M81 group The M81 Group is a galaxy group in the constellations Ursa Major and Camelopardalis that includes the galaxies Messier 81 and Messier 82, as well as several other galaxies with high apparent brightnesses. The approximate center of the group i ...

circle 326 264 15

Maffei Group The IC 342/Maffei Group (also known as the IC 342 Group or the Maffei 1 Group) corresponds to one or two galaxy groups close to the Local Group. The member galaxies are mostly concentrated around either IC 342 or Maffei 1, which would be the brig ...

circle 289 292 20

NGC 1023 Group The NGC 1023 group is a group of galaxies about 20.6 million light-years away from Earth. It is a group in the Local Supercluster along with the Local Group. Members * Probable (dwarfs): DDO 024, DDO 025. * Possible members: NGC 672, IC 1 ...

circle 370 236 13 M101 group circle 347 299 20 NGC 2997 Group circle 405 238 20 Canes Venatici I Group circle 426 203 19 NGC 5033 group rect 445 247 508 276

Ursa Major Cluster The Ursa Major Cluster (Ursa Major I Cluster, UMa I ClG) is a spiral-rich galaxy cluster of the Virgo Supercluster. Some of its largest members are NGC 3631, NGC 3953, M109 on North (M109 Group) and NGC 3726, NGC 3938, NGC 4051 on South. ...

circle 391 270 18 Leo I Group circle 277 197 25 NGC 6744 Group circle 236 314 22

Dorado Group The Dorado Group is a loose concentration of galaxies containing both spirals and ellipticals. It is generally considered a 'galaxy group' but may approach the size of a 'galaxy cluster'. It lies primarily in the southern constellation Dorado a ...

circle 518 87 40

Virgo III Groups The Virgo III Groups, or Virgo III Cloud, are a series of at least 75 galactic clusters and individual galaxies stretching approximately off the eastern edge of the Virgo Supercluster. Parts of it are in the constellations Virgo, Libra, and Serp ...

circle 526 225 20

NGC 4697 NGC 4697 (also known as Caldwell 52) is an elliptical galaxy some 40 to 50 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo (constellation), Virgo. It is a member of the NGC 4697 Group, a group of galaxies also containing NGC 4731 and several ...

circle 546 331 34 Leo II Groups circle 165 194 27 NGC 7582 poly 180 356 178 325 252 345 242 378

poly 176 357 239 379 214 413 162 381

Eridanus Cluster The Eridanus Cluster is a galaxy cluster roughly from Earth, containing about 73 main galaxies and about 200 total galaxies. About 30% have Hubble classifications of elliptical or S0 and the remaining 70% are spiral or irregular. These gala ...

rect 295 213 324 239

rect 252 235 304 257

Sculptor Group The Sculptor Group is a loose group of galaxies visible near the south galactic pole. The group is one of the closest groups of galaxies to the Local Group; the distance to the center of the group from the Milky Way is approximately . The Sculp ...

desc bottom-left File:Nearest Groups of Galaxies atlasoftheuniverse.gif, frame, center, The nearest galaxy groups projected onto the supergalactic plane (click on feature names for more information) circle 333 283 20

NGC 55 NGC 55, is a Magellanic type barred spiral galaxy located about 6.5 million light-years away in the constellation Sculptor. Along with its neighbor NGC 300, it is one of the closest galaxies to the Local Group, probably lying between the Milky ...

rect 399 299 419 325

circle 385 294 14

Large Magellanic Cloud The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), or Nubecula Major, is a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. At a distance of around 50 kiloparsecs (≈160,000 light-years), the LMC is the second- or third-closest galaxy to the Milky Way, after the ...

circle 429 267 20

NGC 3109 NGC 3109 is a small barred Magellanic type spiral or irregular galaxy around 4.34 Mly away in the direction of the constellation of Hydra. NGC 3109 is believed to be tidally interacting with the dwarf elliptical galaxy Antlia Dwarf. It was di ...

circle 395 338 16

Messier 31 Messier may refer to: People with the surname *Charles Messier, French astronomer *Éric Messier, former NHL defenseman *George Messier, French inventor *Jean-Marie Messier, former CEO of Vivendi Universal * Marc Messier, Canadian actor from Quebec ...

circle 365 335 15

Messier 33 Messier may refer to: People with the surname *Charles Messier, French astronomer * Éric Messier, former NHL defenseman * George Messier, French inventor *Jean-Marie Messier, former CEO of Vivendi Universal *Marc Messier, Canadian actor from Quebe ...

circle 278 311 20

NGC 247 NGC 247 (also known as Caldwell 62 and commonly known as the Claw Galaxy) is an intermediate spiral galaxy (although it is sometimes classified as a dwarf spiral galaxy) about 11.1 Mly away in the constellation Cetus. This distance was confirmed ...

circle 388 119 28 Circinus Galaxy circle 456 124 17 NGC 5128 circle 494 161 20

NGC 5253 NGC 5253 is an irregular galaxy in the constellation Centaurus. It was discovered by William Herschel on 15 March 1787. Properties NGC 5253 is located within the M83 Subgroup of the Centaurus A/M83 Group, a relatively nearby galaxy group that i ...

poly 475 149 500 133 483 113 463 137 NGC 5102 circle 440 165 28 NGC 5128 Group circle 368 206 27

IC 4662 IC 4662, also known as ESO 102-14 is an irregular galaxy located in the constellation Pavo 7.96 million light years away. It was discovered by Robert Thorbun Ayton Innes in 1901. It has a diameter of 7000 light years and an angular size of ...

circle 520 105 20

Messier 83 Messier 83 or M83, also known as the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy and NGC 5236, is a barred spiral galaxy approximately 15 million light-years away in the constellation borders of Hydra and Centaurus. Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille discovered M83 on 23 ...

rect 699 183 774 265

circle 433 65 22

ESO 274-01 The European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere, commonly referred to as the European Southern Observatory (ESO), is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental research organisation made up of 16 mem ...

circle 266 177 22

NGC 1313 NGC 1313 (also known as the Topsy Turvy Galaxy) is a field galaxy and a barred spiral galaxy discovered by the Scottish astronomer James Dunlop on 27 September 1826. It has a diameter of about 50,000 light-years, or about half the size of the Mi ...

circle 214 255 20

NGC 625 NGC 625 is a dwarf barred spiral galaxy about 12.7 Mly away in the constellation Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoe ...

circle 235 282 16

NGC 7793 NGC 7793 is a flocculent spiral galaxy in the southern constellation of Sculptor. It was discovered in 1826 by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop. The galaxy is located at a distance of million light years and is receding with a heliocentric ...

rect 435 80 472 107 NGC 4945 circle 184 301 20

NGC 45 NGC 45 is a low surface brightness spiral galaxy in the equatorial constellation of Cetus. It was discovered on 11 November 1835 by the English astronomer John Herschel. The galaxy is located at a distance of 22 million light years an ...

circle 217 311 17 NGC 253 circle 265 260 22

rect 368 268 412 284

circle 409 379 25

NGC 1569 NGC 1569 is a dwarf irregular galaxy in Camelopardalis. The galaxy is relatively nearby and consequently, the Hubble Space Telescope can easily resolve the stars within the galaxy. The distance to the galaxy was previously believed to be only 2 ...

circle 296 280 17

NGC 300 NGC 300 (also known as Caldwell 70) is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Sculptor. It is one of the closest galaxies to the Local Group, and probably lies between the latter and the Sculptor Group. It is the brightest of the five main spira ...

circle 424 418 20

IC 342 IC 342 (also known as Caldwell 5) is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Camelopardalis, located relatively close to the Milky Way. Despite its size and actual brightness, its location behind dusty areas near the galactic equator m ...

rect 383 429 415 451

circle 325 442 20

NGC 404 NGC 404 is a field galaxy located about 10 million light years away in the constellation Andromeda. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1784, and is visible through small telescopes.

circle 272 508 20

NGC 784 NGC 784 is a barred spiral galaxy about 16.0 Mly away in the constellation Triangulum. NGC 784 is located within the Virgo Supercluster The Virgo Supercluster (Virgo SC) or the Local Supercluster (LSC or LS) is a mass concentration of gala ...

circle 397 510 20 Maffei I rect 353 456 413 478 Maffei II rect 371 526 434 553

Dwingeloo 1 Dwingeloo 1 is a barred spiral galaxy about 10 million light-years away from the Earth, in the constellation Cassiopeia. It lies in the Zone of Avoidance and is heavily obscured by the Milky Way. The size and mass of Dwingeloo 1 are comparabl ...

circle 444 481 22

NGC 1560 NGC 1560, also known as IC 2062, is an 11th-magnitude spiral galaxy, in the IC 342/Maffei Group. It was discovered by Wilhelm Tempel on August 1, 1883. The galaxy has a negative radial velocity of -35 km/second. NGC1560 is close enough t ...

rect 510 417 537 434

Messier 81 Messier 81 (also known as NGC 3031 or Bode's Galaxy) is a grand design spiral galaxy about 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. It has a D25 isophotal diameter of . Because of its relative proximity to the Milky Way ga ...

rect 527 433 578 443

IC 2574 IC 2574, also known as Coddington's Nebula, is a dwarf spiral galaxy discovered by American astronomer Edwin Foster Coddington in 1898. Located in Ursa Major, a constellation in the northern sky, it is an outlying member of the M81 Group The M ...

rect 500 434 515 450

Messier 82 Messier 82 (also known as NGC 3034, Cigar Galaxy or M82) is a starburst galaxy approximately 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. It is the second-largest member of the M81 Group, with the D25 isophotal diameter of . It ...

poly 516 434 521 456 554 456 552 447 533 445 523 435 NGC 3077 circle 549 476 18 NGC 2976 circle 604 440 22 NGC 4605 circle 513 479 19 NGC 6503 circle 583 410 13

NGC 5204 NCG 5204 is a Magellanic spiral galaxy located about 14.5 million light-years away from EarthThe distance from Earth is . in the constellation of Ursa Major and is a member of the M101 Group of galaxies. It has a galaxy morphological classificat ...

circle 559 389 16 NGC 3738 circle 512 401 14

NGC 4236 NGC 4236 (also known as Caldwell 3) is a barred spiral galaxy located in the constellation Draco. The galaxy is a member of the M81 Group, a group of galaxies located at a distance of approximately 11.7 Mly (3.6 Mpc) from Earth. The group ...

rect 452 442 485 461 NGC 2366 rect 451 420 484 440

NGC 2403 NGC 2403 (also known as Caldwell 7) is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Camelopardalis. It is an outlying member of the M81 Group, and is approximately 8 million light-years distant. It bears a similarity to M33, being about 50 ...

rect 485 433 502 465 NGC 4305 circle 659 382 20

NGC 5023 NGC 5023 is an edge-on spiral galaxy located in the constellation Canes Venatici. It is considered a member of the M51 Group although it is actually relatively isolated from other galaxies. It is approximately 15 kiloparsecs (49,000 light-years) ...

rect 634 344 658 364

Messier 94 Messier 94 (also known as NGC 4736) is a spiral galaxy in the mid-northern constellation Canes Venatici. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781, and catalogued by Charles Messier two days later. Although some references describe M94 as ...

circle 618 355 15

NGC 4244 NGC 4244, also known as Caldwell 26, is an edge-on loose spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici, and is part of the M94 Group or Canes Venatici I Group, a galaxy group relatively close to the Local Group containing the Milky Way. In ...

circle 594 337 13

NGC 4214 NGC 4214 is a dwarf barred irregular galaxy located around 10 million light-years away in the constellation Canes Venatici. NGC 4214 is a member of the M94 Group. Characteristics NGC 4214 is both larger and brighter than the Small Magellan ...

circle 577 361 19 NGC 4449 circle 615 319 17

NGC 4395 NGC commonly refers to: * New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars, a catalogue of deep sky objects in astronomy NGC may also refer to: Companies * NGC Corporation, name of US electric company Dynegy, Inc. from 1995 to 1998 * Na ...

rect 591 280 640 304

Canes I Group The M94 Group (Canes I Group or Canes Venatici I Group) is a loose, extended group of galaxies located about 13 million light-years away in the constellations Canes Venatici and Coma Berenices. The group is one of many groups that lies within ...

poly 528 393 542 392 558 411 525 414

M81 Group The M81 Group is a galaxy group in the constellations Ursa Major and Camelopardalis that includes the galaxies Messier 81 and Messier 82, as well as several other galaxies with high apparent brightnesses. The approximate center of the group i ...

desc bottom-left

Diagrams

References

External links

The Atlas of the Universe
a website created by astrophysicist Richard Powell that shows maps of our local universe on a number of different scales (similar to above maps). {{Portal bar, Stars, Spaceflight, Solar System, Science Galaxy superclusters