The Virgo Cluster is a large

cluster of galaxies 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-lar ...

whose center is 53.8 ± 0.3

Mly 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 ...

(16.5 ± 0.1 Mpc) away in the

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the earliest constellation ...

Virgo. Comprising approximately 1,300 (and possibly up to 2,000) member galaxies, the cluster forms the heart of the larger Virgo Supercluster, of which the Local Group (containing our

Milky Way galaxy 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. ...

) 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 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 elliptical galaxy

Messier 87 Messier 87 (also known as Virgo A or NGC 4486, generally abbreviated to M87) is a supergiant elliptical galaxy with several trillion stars in the constellation Virgo. One of the largest and most massive galaxies in the local ...

, were discovered in the late 1770s and early 1780s and subsequently included in

Charles Messier Charles Messier (; 26 June 1730 – 12 April 1817) was a French astronomer. He published an astronomical catalogue consisting of 110 nebulae and star clusters, which came to be known as the ''Messier objects''. Messier's purpose ...

's catalogue of non-cometary fuzzy objects. Described by Messier as

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 without stars, their true nature was not recognized until the 1920s. 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

, which is located in the center of the cluster.

Characteristics

The cluster is a fairly

heterogeneous Homogeneity and heterogeneity are concepts often used in the sciences and statistics relating to the uniformity of a substance or organism. A material or image that is homogeneous is uniform in composition or character (i.e. color, shape, siz ...

mixture of

spiral In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving farther away as it revolves around the point. Helices Two major definitions of "spiral" in the American Heritage Dictionary are:elliptical galaxies. , it is believed that the spiral galaxies of the cluster are distributed in an oblong prolate

filament The word filament, which is descended from Latin ''filum'' meaning " thread", is used in English for a variety of thread-like structures, including: Astronomy * Galaxy filament, the largest known cosmic structures in the universe * Solar filament ...

, approximately four times as long as it is wide, stretching along the line of sight from 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. ...

. The elliptical galaxies are more centrally concentrated than the spiral galaxies. The cluster is an aggregate of at least three separate subclumps: ''Virgo A'', centered on M87, a second centered on the galaxy M86, and ''Virgo B'', centered on M49, with some authors including a ''Virgo C'' subcluster, centered on the galaxy M60 as well as a ''LVC'' (Low Velocity Cloud) subclump, centered on the large spiral galaxy NGC 4216. Notably, the giant elliptical galaxy M87 contains a supermassive black hole, whose event horizon was observed by the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration in 2019. Of all of the subclumps, ''Virgo A'', formed by a mixture of elliptical,

lenticular Lenticular is an adjective often relating to lenses. It may refer to: * A term used with two meanings in botany: see * Lenticular cloud, a lens-shaped cloud * Lenticular galaxy, a lens-shaped galaxy * Lenticular (geology), adjective describing a ...

, and (usually) gas-poor spiral galaxies, is the dominant one, with a mass of approximately 10¹⁴ , which is approximately an order of magnitude larger than the other two subclumps.
The Virgo Super Cluster: home of M87
' (with frames) 14-296-GalaxyClusters-PerseusVirgo-ChandraXRay-20141027

14-296-GalaxyClusters-PerseusVirgo-ChandraXRay-20141027

The three subgroups are in the process of merging to form a larger single cluster and are surrounded by other smaller galaxy clouds, mostly composed of spiral galaxies, known as ''N Cloud'', ''S Cloud'', and ''Virgo E'' that are in the process of infalling to merge with them, plus other farther isolated galaxies and galaxy groups (like the galaxy cloud Coma I) that are also attracted by the gravity of Virgo to merge with it in the future. This strongly suggests the Virgo cluster is a dynamically young cluster that is still forming. Other two nearby aggregations known as ''M Cloud'', ''W Cloud'', and ''W' Cloud'' seem to be background systems independent of the main cluster. The large mass of the cluster is indicated by the high peculiar velocities of many of its galaxies, sometimes as high as 1,600 km/ s with respect to the cluster's center. The Virgo cluster lies within the Virgo Supercluster, and its gravitational effect slows down the nearby galaxies. The large mass of the cluster has the effect of slowing down the recession of the Local Group from the cluster by approximately ten percent. Molecular gasses in Virgo Cluster has been swept away by a huge cosmic broom that is preventing nearby galaxies from birthing new stars. The actual cause of it has been a long standing mystery in

astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the h ...

. According to scientists, it occurs because of the extreme environment of the Virgo Cluster.

Intracluster medium

As with many other rich galaxy clusters, Virgo's intracluster medium is filled with a hot, rarefied plasma at temperatures of 30 million

kelvin The kelvin, symbol K, is the primary unit of temperature in the International System of Units (SI), used alongside its prefixed forms and the degree Celsius. It is named after the Belfast-born and University of Glasgow-based engineer and ...

s that emits

X-Rays An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nbs ...

. Within the intracluster medium (ICM) are found a large number of intergalactic stars (up to 10% of the stars in the cluster), including some

planetary nebula A planetary nebula (PN, plural PNe) is a type of emission nebula consisting of an expanding, glowing shell of ionized gas ejected from red giant stars late in their lives. The term "planetary nebula" is a misnomer because they are unrelate ...

e. It is theorized that these were expelled from their home galaxies by interactions with other galaxies. The ICM also contains some

globular cluster A globular cluster is a spheroidal conglomeration of stars. Globular clusters are bound together by gravity, with a higher concentration of stars towards their centers. They can contain anywhere from tens of thousands to many millions of membe ...

s, possibly stripped off dwarf galaxies, and even at least one

star formation Star formation is the process by which dense regions within molecular clouds in The "medium" is present further soon.-->interstellar space

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

Galaxies

Below is a table of bright or notable objects in the cluster and their subunit (subcluster). Note that in some cases a galaxy may be considered in a different subunit by other researchers (sources:) :Column 1: The name of the galaxy. :Column 2: The right ascension for epoch 2000. :Column 3: The declination for epoch 2000. :Column 4: The blue apparent magnitude of the galaxy. :Column 5: The galaxy type: E=Elliptical, S0=Lenticular, Sa,Sb,Sc,Sd=Spiral, SBa,SBb,SBc,SBd=Barred spiral, Sm,SBm,Irr=Irregular. :Column 6: The angular diameter of the galaxy (arcminutes). :Column 7: The diameter of the galaxy (thousands of light years). :Column 8: The recessional velocity (km/s) of the galaxy relative to the

cosmic microwave background In Big Bang cosmology the cosmic microwave background (CMB, CMBR) is electromagnetic radiation that is a remnant from an early stage of the universe, also known as "relic radiation". The CMB is faint cosmic background radiation filling all spac ...

. :Column 9: Subcluster where the galaxy is located. Fainter galaxies within the cluster are usually known by their numbers in the Virgo Cluster Catalog, particularly members of the numerous dwarf galaxy population.

Notes

References

External links

The Virgo Cluster at An Atlas of the Universe
map (and table) of the 160 largest galaxies

on Virgo cluster.

SEDS Messier pages
Partial Virgo cluster centered on M87 (Dark Atmospheres)

The Virgo Cluster Catalog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Virgo Cluster Virgo Supercluster Virgo (constellation) Coma Berenices