The nearest major galaxy cluster to Earth, located about 54 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. It contains over 1,300 galaxies and serves as the gravitational center of our Local Supercluster.
Named after the constellation Virgo where it appears in Earth's sky. The cluster was first catalogued by Charles Messier in the 18th century, though its nature as a galaxy cluster wasn't understood until the 20th century when galaxies themselves were recognized as separate from our Milky Way.
The Virgo Cluster is like our cosmic downtown - it's so massive that it's actually pulling our entire Local Group of galaxies toward it at 600 kilometers per second! The cluster's gravity is so strong that it contains hot gas at 10 million degrees Celsius, which glows brightly in X-ray images.
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