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Virgo Cluster
The Virgo Cluster is a cluster of galaxies whose center is 53.8 ± 0.3 Mly (16.5 ± 0.1 Mpc) away in the Virgo constellation. 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 the 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 1.2×1015 M☉ 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, 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.
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 brightest member is the elliptical galaxy Messier 49.
The cluster is a fairly heterogeneous mixture of spiral and elliptical galaxies. As of 2004[update], it is believed that the spiral galaxies of the cluster are distributed in an oblong prolate filament, approximately four times as long as it is wide, stretching along the line of sight from the Milky Way. The elliptical galaxies are more centrally concentrated than the spiral galaxies. The first example of an ultra-diffuse galaxy was also found in the central core of the cluster in 1984.
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 Low Velocity Cloud (LVC) subclump, centered on the large spiral galaxy NGC 4216. The giant elliptical galaxy M87 contains a supermassive black hole, whose event horizon was observed by the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration in 2019.
Virgo A is the dominant subclump; its mass of approximately 1014 M☉ is approximately ten times larger than the other two subclumps. It contains a mixture of elliptical, lenticular, and spiral galaxies which are generally gas-poor,
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.
Nearby aggregations known as M Cloud, W Cloud, and W' Cloud seem to be background systems independent of the main cluster.
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Virgo Cluster AI simulator
(@Virgo Cluster_simulator)
Virgo Cluster
The Virgo Cluster is a cluster of galaxies whose center is 53.8 ± 0.3 Mly (16.5 ± 0.1 Mpc) away in the Virgo constellation. 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 the 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 1.2×1015 M☉ 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, 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.
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 brightest member is the elliptical galaxy Messier 49.
The cluster is a fairly heterogeneous mixture of spiral and elliptical galaxies. As of 2004[update], it is believed that the spiral galaxies of the cluster are distributed in an oblong prolate filament, approximately four times as long as it is wide, stretching along the line of sight from the Milky Way. The elliptical galaxies are more centrally concentrated than the spiral galaxies. The first example of an ultra-diffuse galaxy was also found in the central core of the cluster in 1984.
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 Low Velocity Cloud (LVC) subclump, centered on the large spiral galaxy NGC 4216. The giant elliptical galaxy M87 contains a supermassive black hole, whose event horizon was observed by the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration in 2019.
Virgo A is the dominant subclump; its mass of approximately 1014 M☉ is approximately ten times larger than the other two subclumps. It contains a mixture of elliptical, lenticular, and spiral galaxies which are generally gas-poor,
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.
Nearby aggregations known as M Cloud, W Cloud, and W' Cloud seem to be background systems independent of the main cluster.