#Virgo cluster

[thefirststarr]

SPACEMAS DAY 25 ✨🪐🌎☄️☀️🌕

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! These last 25 days have been so fun! Thank you for coming along with me!!

Majestic on a cosmic scale, M100 is known as a grand design spiral galaxy. It’s a large galaxy of over 100 billion stars with well-defined spiral arms that is similar to the Milky Way Galaxy. Also one of the brightest members of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies, M100 (aka NGC 4321) is 56 million light-years away toward the constellation of Berenice's Hair (Coma Berenices). This Hubble Space Telescope image of M100 was taken with the Wide Field Camera 3 and accentuates bright blue star clusters and intricate winding dust lanes which are hallmarks of this class of galaxies. Studies of variable stars in M100 have played an important role in determining the size and age of the Universe.

Image Credit & Copyright: NASA, ESA, Hubble

[quiltofstars]

Markarian's Chain in the Virgo Cluster // sebaromano

Along the diagonal from top left to bottom right are: M86, the Eyes Galaxies, and NGC 4461. Other galaxies are also visible in this image, so click below the cut to see them identified!

Courtesy of astrometry.net.

[livingforstars]

Hubble's Constant and The Expanding Universe (II) - May 14th, 1996.

"In this century, the discovery that the Universe is expanding has produced a revolution in human thought about the cosmos. American astronomer Edwin Hubble played a major role in this profound discovery, coining the "Hubble constant". This single number describes the rate of cosmic expansion, relating the apparent recession velocities of external galaxies to their distance. Two groups of astronomers that tried to measure this fundamental constant using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) reported conflicting results. One group, led by astronomer Allan Sandage, measured distances to galaxies using pulsating Cepheid variable stars and supernovae observed in galaxies like the Virgo Cluster spiral galaxy, NGC4639, shown above. This galaxy is the most distant one to which Cepheid-based determinations have been made and was also the site of a well-studied 1990 supernova. Their results favoured a relatively small Hubble constant (slow expansion rate) of about 55 kilometers per second per megaparsec, which means that galaxies one megaparsec (3 million light-years) distant appear to recede from us at a speed of 55 kilometers per second. A substantially faster expansion rate (larger Hubble constant) was reported by astronomer Wendy Freedman and collaborators, also based on HST data."

[anothercloudynight]

Galaxies of the Virgo Cluster, Markarian's Chain

M84,M86 (Catalogue Messier)

Virgo  Constellation

Distance: 65.000.000 ly

March 03, 2023 -Montcada i Reixac

[leapingmonkeys]

The Milky Way Might be Part of an Even Larger Structure than Laniakea

[blasteffect]

NGC 4731 !

A member of the Virgo cluster.

The spiral arms of NGC 4731 stretch out far beyond the confines of this close-up. These elongated arms are thought to result from gravitational interactions with other, nearby galaxies in the Virgo cluster.

ESA - European Space Agency / Hubble Space Telescope & NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration D. Thilker

[celestialdaily]

The celestial object of the day is Spica!

The brightest star in the constellation of Virgo is actually a binary system! And the closest to the sun. It's formed by a blue giant and a variable star, they orbit so close together that they've gained an ellipsodal shape, similar to that of an egg

[chibinotan]

Early Galaxies

[niksu-agassi]

I know so many people struggling with BPD think they are hard to love, that they don't deserve it and that there will never be anyone who could match their love. None of you are too hard to love and every single one of you deserves the love you give out to those around you. So many of us have dated those who worked against us and our disorder, but there are people who WILL work with your disorder, who WILL give their best to understand you. Don't lose hope.

[torchickentacos]

you ever scroll past some sort of discourse that you didn't even know existed, and you have to take a second and realize that, while none of us are superior to others, some of us ARE much better at choosing which dumbass hills to die on? because I think sometimes you deserve to go 'huh. at least I'm not getting involved in all that'.

[thefirststarr]

SPACEMAS DAY 22 ✨🪐🌎☄️☀️🌕

This floating ring is a galaxy, or at least part of one. This is the photogenic Sombrero Galaxy, one of the largest galaxies in the nearby Virgo Cluster of Galaxies. Typically, there’s a dark band of dust that obscures the mid-section of the Sombrero Galaxy in optical light. But in infrared light, it actually glows brightly. The featured image, digitally sharpened, shows this infrared glow. It was recorded by the orbiting Spitzer Space Telescope and then superposed in false-color on an existing image taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in visible light. The Sombrero Galaxy, also known as M104, spans about 50,000 light years across and lies 28 million light years away. M104 can be seen with a small telescope in the direction of the constellation Virgo.

Image Credit & Copyright: R. Kennicutt (Steward Obs.) et al., SSC, JPL, Caltech, NASA

[livingforstars]

The Virgo Cluster: Hot Plasma and Dark Matter - April 19th, 1996.

"This ROSAT image of the Virgo cluster of galaxies reveals a hot X-ray emitting plasma or gas with a temperature of 10-100 million degrees pervading the cluster. False colours have been used to represent the intensity of X-ray emission. The large area of X-ray emission, just below and left of center, is about 1 million light-years across. The giant elliptical galaxy M87, the biggest member of the cluster, is centered in that area while other cluster members are scattered around it. By adding up the amount of X-ray emitting gas, astronomers have found that its total mass is up to 5 times the total mass of the cluster galaxies themselves - yet all this matter still does not produce nearly enough gravity to keep the cluster from flying apart! Where is the unseen mass? Because galaxy clusters are the largest structures in the Universe, this mysterious dark matter must dominate the cosmos but its nature is still an open question."

[itsgerges]

[leapingmonkeys]

A beginner’s guide to the Virgo Supercluster

[michaelgabrill]

Hubble Views a Vibrant Virgo Cluster Galaxy

It’s easy to get swept up in the swirling starry arms of this intermediate spiral galaxy, NGC 4654, in the constellation Virgo. The galaxy has a bright center and is labeled “intermediate” because it has characteristics of both unbarred and barred spirals. NGC 4654 is just north of the celestial equator, making it visible from […] from NASA https://ift.tt/t9VK42a

[theprongspotter]

Cope - Jegulus - @stag-microfic - Day 2 - 402 words

“Again? I swear we do this every single night,” Regulus says, quirking a brow and an amused smile tugs at his lips.

“Yeah, but I like hearing your voice.”

They’re right outside of James’ house, sprawled out on damp grass, but it doesn’t seem to bother them.

Regulus rolls his eyes, but points at a constellation near the tree line. “That’s Ursa Major, the Great Bear. You know that, I hope, considering the amount of times I’ve told you that. Besides, it’s rather easy to see.”

"Of course.” James nods.

His finger moves to point at a different cluster of stars. “That’s Virgo. If you look at the brightest star there, you can see Spica. That’s one point of the triangle.”

“The triangle?” James asks.

Regulus rolls his eyes. “Yes, James, the triangle. We’ve only been over this a dozen times.”

He points at another constellation. “Then that’s Boötes, and the brightest star there is Arcturus.”

“Your middle name,” James says.

Regulus cracks a smile. “Yes, my middle name. It’s also the second point of the triangle.”

James smiles and takes Regulus’ hand in his, moving it until it points at a really familiar constellation. His favorite, actually. “Leo. There’s you. You’re the heart of the lion.” You’re my heart. “You complete the triangle asterism.” You complete me.

“So you do pay attention.” Regulus grins.

They let their arms fall to rest on their stomachs as they look at each other, lying side by side on the cool grass. The moonlight bathes the clearing in a soft, silvery glow, making Regulus appear almost ethereal. His dark hair contrasts sharply with his pale skin, which seems to shimmer under the lunar light, giving him an otherworldly radiance. His eyes, usually so intense, are softened by the moon’s gentle touch.

James, with his tousled hair and tired expression, looks rugged yet vulnerable in the dim light. The moon casts shadows across his face, highlighting his eye bags.

“You know, you really need to find a new way to cope,” Regulus says after a while, his voice gentle but firm.

James frowns, his brows furrowing in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Regulus gazes at him with a mix of sorrow and affection. “James, I died three years ago.”

And just like that, the space beside him becomes empty.