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Virgo cluster |
Also found in: Wikipedia, Hutchinson | 0.11 sec. |
Virgo clusterClosest large cluster of galaxies at a distance of about 50 million light-years in the direction of the constellation Virgo. About 200 bright galaxies and thousands of faint ones reside in the cluster. In turn, the Virgo cluster lies at the approximate centre of a larger gravitationally bound structure, called the Local Supercluster, which also includes the Local Group of galaxies, to which the Milky Way Galaxy belongs. Near the centre of the Virgo cluster is the giant elliptical galaxy M87 (or Virgo A), one of the strongest radio sources in the sky and also a powerful X-ray source. Images of M87s active galactic nucleus, obtained in 1994, revealed gas orbiting at such high speeds that astronomers believe a supermassive black hole must be present. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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In 2000, Minchin's team noticed two apparently isolated hydrogen clouds in a radio telescope survey of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. They're stars without a home galaxy, and for the first time astronomers have spied hundreds of them adrift in the Virgo cluster, a collection of galaxies some 60 million light-years from Earth. and her colleagues announced a new distance to the galaxy M100, a member of the Virgo cluster of galaxies, based on Hubble Space Telescope observations. |
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