                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2022 June 15

                      In the Heart of the Virgo Cluster
                 Image Credit & Copyright: Saulius Adomaitis

   Explanation: The Virgo Cluster of Galaxies is the closest cluster of
   galaxies to our Milky Way Galaxy. The Virgo Cluster is so close that it
   spans more than 5 degrees on the sky - about 10 times the angle made by
   a full Moon. With its heart lying about 70 million light years distant,
   the Virgo Cluster is the nearest cluster of galaxies, contains over
   2,000 galaxies, and has a noticeable gravitational pull on the galaxies
   of the Local Group of Galaxies surrounding our Milky Way Galaxy. The
   cluster contains not only galaxies filled with stars but also gas so
   hot it glows in X-rays. Motions of galaxies in and around clusters
   indicate that they contain more dark matter than any visible matter we
   can see. Pictured here, the heart of the Virgo Cluster includes bright
   Messier galaxies such as Markarian's Eyes on the upper left, M86 just
   to the upper right of center, M84 on the far right, as well as spiral
   galaxy NGC 4388 at the bottom right.

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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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