Virgo the Virgin is rich in galaxies and holds one of the brightest stars in the night sky.
Virgo the Virgin, also sometimes nicknamed the Maiden, is the second largest constellation in the sky. (The largest lies just beneath it, Hydra the Water Snake.) As one of the constellations of the Zodiac, the sun, moon, and planets occasionally pass through Virgo.
Spica, which marks a bundle of wheat which the Virgin is holding, is the 16th brightest star in the sky. Spica is a magnitude 0.98 star that can be found by using the Big Dipper to "arc to Arcturus and speed on down to Spica". Spica lies 262 light-years from Earth.
The next brightest star in Virgo is the binary star Gamma Virginis, or Porrima. Porrima is magnitude 2.74 and lies near the center of the constellation, above (northwest of) Spica. It lies 38 light-years away. The third brightest star is at the northern reaches of the constellation. Vindemiatrix is a magnitude 2.85 star star located 102 light-years away.
Virgo is known for its large cluster of galaxies. This grouping, called the Virgo Cluster of galaxies, is near the border with Coma Berenices, west of Vindemiatrix. The Virgo Cluster is the nearest large group of galaxies to the Milky Way. We are all part of one large galaxy group called the Local Supercluster. The Virgo Cluster is at the center of this Supercluster. The Milky Way and our local group of galaxies all have their escape velocities slowed by the Virgo Cluster. The gravitational pull in this region that makes up the Local Supercluster is what is bringing us together and will one day cause these many galaxies to merge into one huge conglomeration. It is one of the few places in the Universe to which we are speeding toward, instead of speeding away, causing us to see some of the galaxies with a blueshift.
The galaxy with the one of the highest blueshifts lies right on the border of Virgo and Coma Berenices. This galaxy, M90, is moving rapidly among the other objects in the Virgo Cluster. It is also being stripped of gas and dust because of its close quarters with the other galaxies. At magnitude 9.5, the 60-million-light-year distant galaxy can be seen through telescopes. Other bright galaxies between 8th and 9th magnitude in this locatioin are M49, M58, M59, M60, M84, M86, M87, and M89. Scanning along the line between Virgo and Coma Berenices will bring a whole stream of galaxies into view.
One bright and notable galaxy is floating apart from the large cluster of galaxies near Virgo's head. This galaxy, M104, or the Sombrero Galaxy, is located on the southeast border of the constellation with Corvus the Crow. M104 is a stunning galaxy in photographs, and can be easily glimpsed in telescopes at magnitude 8.3. It is a dusty spiral galaxy seen at edge-on with a big bright core. M104 lies approximately 55 million light-years away.
