Virgo cluster (redirected from Virgo cluster of galaxies)

Virgo cluster

Closest 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.

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Virgo cluster [′vər·gō ‚kləs·tər]

(astronomy)

A cluster of galaxies which is the nearest to the galaxy that includes the sun; the cluster is centered in the constellation Virgo and is about 1.6 × 10⁷light-years (1.51 × 10²³m) from earth.