The Universe's Marvel: Virgo A

Have you ever gazed up at the night sky and wondered about the twinkling stars and galaxies? One of these spectacular celestial wonders is Messier 87, also known as Virgo A or NGC 4486. This supergiant elliptical galaxy, located in the constellation Virgo, holds an abundance of secrets waiting to be discovered!

The Size of Virgo A

Now, let's take a closer look at the size of Virgo A. It's colossal, even by galactic standards! This galaxy is at an estimated distance of 53 million light-years from Earth. A light-year is the distance that light travels in one year, which is around 5.88 trillion miles. That means Virgo A is approximately 312 quadrillion miles away from us! Moreover, Virgo A is one of the largest and most massive galaxies in the local universe. It's so large that it contains several trillion stars, much more than the 100 billion stars in our own Milky Way galaxy. If you could somehow fit Virgo A within our solar system, it would dwarf everything in comparison. ## Size Comparison: Virgo A vs. Other Objects To understand the size of Virgo A better, let's compare it to familiar objects:

• Earth: If Earth were the size of a grain of sand, Virgo A would be the size of a mountain. This shows just how gigantic Virgo A truly is!
• Milky Way: The Milky Way, our home galaxy, is only a fraction of the size of Virgo A. Virgo A contains several trillion stars, while the Milky Way has about 100 billion stars. That's like comparing a small town to a bustling city!
• The Sun: Our Sun is a medium-sized star. Virgo A, however, contains gigantic stars, some of which are hundreds of times larger than the Sun.

Unique Features of Virgo A

The size of Virgo A isn't its only impressive feature. Here are some other fascinating facts about this galaxy:

• Virgo A has approximately 15,000 globular clusters. These are groups of stars that orbit around a galaxy's core. In comparison, our Milky Way only has around 150 to 200 of them.
• Unlike our spiral-shaped Milky Way, Virgo A is an elliptical galaxy. It doesn't have distinctive dust lanes or arms. Instead, it's kind of like a giant, glowing ellipsoid in space.
• At the core of Virgo A, there's an active supermassive black hole. This is the source of a jet of energetic plasma that extends at least 4,900 light-years. That's about the distance from us to the nearest known star outside our solar system, Proxima Centauri, multiplied by 1,628! In conclusion, Virgo A is a truly immense and awe-inspiring galaxy. Its size, mass, and number of stars make it one of the most fascinating objects in the universe. As we continue to explore the cosmos, who knows what other exciting discoveries we'll make about Virgo A and other galaxies like it!