Editing Virgo Cluster (section)

{{Short description|Galaxy cluster in the constellation Virgo}}
{{Galaxy cluster
| name = Virgo Cluster
| image = ESO-M87.jpg
| caption = Virgo Cluster showing the diffuse light between member [[galaxy|galaxies]]. [[Messier 87]] is the largest galaxy (lower left).
| epoch = [[J2000]]
| ra = {{RA|12|27}}<ref name="ned">{{cite web
  | title = NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database
  | work = Results for Virgo Cluster
  | url = http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/
  | access-date = 2006-10-19}}</ref>
| dec = {{DEC|+12|43}}<ref name="ned"/>
| constellation = [[Virgo (constellation)|Virgo]] & [[Coma Berenices]]
| member_no = ~1,500<ref name="ned"/>
| parent = [[Virgo Supercluster]]
| bmtype = III<ref name="ned"/>
| brightest_member = [[Messier 49]]
| mass                = 10<sup>15</sup>
| other_names =
}}
The '''Virgo Cluster''' is a [[galaxy cluster|cluster of galaxies]] whose center is [[100 zettametres|53.8 ± 0.3]] [[light year|Mly]] (16.5 ± 0.1 [[parsec|Mpc]])<ref name="Mei2007">{{cite journal | author = Mei, Simona | author2 = Blakeslee, John P.  | author3 = Côté, Patrick | author4 = Tonry, John L. | author5 = West, Michael J. | author6 = Ferrarese, Laura | author7 = Jordán, Andrés | author8 = Peng, Eric W. | author9 = Anthony, André | author10 = Merritt, Davi | title = The ACS Virgo Cluster Survey. XIII. SBF Distance Catalog and the Three-dimensional Structure of the Virgo Cluster | journal = The Astrophysical Journal  | date = 2007 | volume = 655 | issue = 1 | pages = 144–162 | bibcode = 2007ApJ...655..144M | doi = 10.1086/509598 | arxiv = astro-ph/0702510 | s2cid = 16483538 }}</ref> away in the [[Virgo (constellation)|Virgo constellation]]. Comprising approximately 1,300 (and possibly up to 2,000) member galaxies,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/V/Virgo+Cluster |title=Virgo Cluster |website=Cosmos |publisher=Swinburne University of Technology}}</ref> the cluster forms the heart of the larger [[Virgo Supercluster]], of which the [[Local Group]] (containing the [[Milky Way|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{{e|15}} {{solar mass|link=y}} out to 8 degrees of the cluster's center or a radius of about 2.2 Mpc.<ref name="Fouquéetal2001">{{cite journal | author = Fouqué, P. | author2 = Solanes, J. M. | author3 = Sanchis, T. | author4 = Balkowski, C. | title = Structure, mass and distance of the Virgo cluster from a Tolman-Bondi model | journal = [[Astronomy and Astrophysics]] | date = 2001 | volume = 375 | issue = 3  | pages = 770–780  | bibcode = 2001A&A...375..770F | doi = 10.1051/0004-6361:20010833 | arxiv = astro-ph/0106261 | s2cid = 10468717 }}</ref>

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 [[nebula]]e without stars, their true nature was not recognized until the 1920s.{{refn|group=upper-alpha|Following the entry for M91 in the Connoissance des Temps for 1784, Messier added the following note:
: ''The constellation of Virgo, & especially the northern Wing is one of the constellations which encloses the most Nebulae: this Catalog contains thirteen which have been determined: viz. Nos. 49, 58, 59, 60, 61, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, & 91. All these nebulae appear to be without stars: one can see them only in a very good sky, & near their meridian passage. Most of these nebulae have been pointed to me by Mr. Méchain.''<ref>{{cite web |title=Messier 91 — Observations and Descriptions |url=http://messier.seds.org/Mdes/dm091.html |publisher=[[SEDS]]}}</ref>}}

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 cluster galaxy|brightest member]] is the [[elliptical galaxy]] [[Messier 49]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.messier-objects.com/virgo-cluster/|title=Virgo Cluster {{!}} Messier Objects|website=www.messier-objects.com|date=9 August 2017|language=en-US|access-date=2018-06-24}}</ref>