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How big is the Virgo Cluster?

The Virgo Cluster is 130 zettameters

The Astounding Size of the Virgo Cluster

Did you know that the universe is filled with billions of galaxies just like our Milky Way? One of these groups of galaxies is known as the Virgo Cluster, which is so incredibly vast that it’s hard to imagine. But don’t worry, we’ll help you understand it better with some interesting size comparisons.

Size Comparisons

The Virgo Cluster is actually a group of about 1,300 to 2,000 galaxies. If we were to compare it to something more familiar, let’s think about our home city. Let’s say that our city represents our own galaxy, the Milky Way. In this comparison, the Virgo Cluster would be like an entire country filled with cities! It’s like comparing one city to the United States or China! But that’s not all. The Virgo Cluster is part of an even larger structure, known as the Virgo Supercluster. This Supercluster includes our galaxy, the Milky Way, along with many other clusters of galaxies. To continue with our comparison, if the Virgo Cluster is a country, the Virgo Supercluster would be like the whole world!

More Facts About the Virgo Cluster

  • The Virgo Cluster is located about 53.8 million light years away from us. In case you’re wondering, a light year is the distance that light can travel in one year, which is about 5.9 trillion miles!
  • The Virgo Cluster’s mass is estimated to be around 1.2×10^15 times the mass of our sun. That’s a number so big that it’s hard to imagine!
  • Many of the brighter galaxies in the Virgo Cluster were discovered in the late 1700s and early 1800s. One of the most famous of these is the giant elliptical galaxy Messier 87.

The Virgo Cluster and You

Even though the Virgo Cluster is incredibly far away and incredibly big, it’s an important part of our universe. It helps scientists understand more about how galaxies form and interact with each other. Plus, it’s a great example of just how amazing and expansive our universe truly is. So next time you look up at the stars, remember that you’re just seeing a tiny part of our universe - and there’s so much more out there to discover! So, how big is the Virgo Cluster? It’s incredibly vast, filled with thousands of galaxies. It’s an entire country of galaxies within a world of Superclusters. Now, that’s truly out of this world!

Smaller By Category
Local Group
The Local Group is the cluster of galaxies that we live in. It contains about eighty galaxies and dwarf galaxies. The two largest galaxies are the Andromeda Galaxy and our own, the Milky Way.
Abell 2029
Abell 2029 is a galaxy cluster one billion light-years away in the constellation Virgo. Its central galaxy, which is IC 1101, is almost as large as it is. It emits 1 trillion times as much light as the Sun does. (About 10^34 light bulbs)
Distance to the Andromeda Galaxy
At two million light-years away, the Andromeda Galaxy is the most distant object visible to the naked eye. However, without binoculars or a telescope, it will appear as a dim blur.
Larger By Category
Fornax Cluster
We live in the Virgo Supercluster. We're actually part of a small filament extending off of the Fornax Cluster. It's the second largest cluster within 100 million light-years!
Virgo Supercluster
The Virgo Supercluster, one of millions of superclusters, contains over 100 galaxy clusters. These include our cluster, as well as the largest one, the Virgo Cluster (which is not super).
Distance to the Shapley Supercluster
The Shapley Supercluster is a supercluster of galaxies. It is one of the largest objects that collapses inward; anything larger expands with the universe.