Virgo Cluster of galaxies. Coloured optical image of part of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. The Virgo Cluster is the nearest major cluster of galaxies

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Virgo Cluster of galaxies. Coloured optical image of part of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. The Virgo Cluster is the nearest major cluster of galaxies to Earth, lying 50 million light years away in the constellation of Virgo. It consists of about 1000 galaxies spread across a region 10 million light years wide. The two bright elliptical galaxies seen in this image are M86 (near centre) and M84 (at far right). The centre of the Cluster, occupied by the active galaxy M87, lies out of the frame of the image at lower left.

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Size: 4695px × 3769px
Photo credit: © Science Photo Library / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: astronomy, cluster, cosmology, elliptical, galactic, galaxies, galaxy, group, m84, m86, science, virgo