Those 88 survived a lengthy winnowing process that ended in 1930 when their borders were set for good by the International Astronomical Union. For now, we've got 88, and that's the way it'll be for a long, long time. I suppose all constellations will be obsolete someday, replaced by revisionists of the distant future or simply so distorted by the motions of their individual stars that retooling will be essential. Created by 19th-century English amateur astronomer William Jamieson, Noctua perched at the end of Hydra's tail between Libra and Spica (top) in Virgo. Noctua, the Owl, now defunct, evolved from an earlier obsolete avian constellation. We revisit their brief glories and learn how to find them in the 21st-century sky. Once you've spotted this chain, you can explore a variety of galaxies of all different shapes and sizes.Obsolete constellations may be gone, but they're not forgotten. It's best seen through a telescope focused on the center of the cluster. A seen from Earth, Markarian's Chain is a curved "vee" of galaxies in two separate lines. The orbiting Hubble Space Telescope (among others) has been used to zero in on this jet, which is likely streaming from a supermassive black hole at the heart of the galaxy.Īnother exciting object at the heart of the Virgo Cluster is Markarian's Chain. It's got a giant jet of material shooting out from its center that can be detected with smaller telescopes. M87 is a giant elliptical galaxy that lies approximately 60 million light-years away. The largest galaxy in the Virgo Cluster is called M87. The core of the cluster lies along the constellation's northern boundary. Virgo is brimming with galaxies that observers will need a telescope to spot, including Sombrero Galaxy. Also present is the Virgo Cluster, a huge collection of galaxies that includes the Local Group, which contains our own Milky Way. In particular, the two galaxies at the top right of the frame are nicknamed "the Eyes". The image also reveals many other galaxies forming the Virgo Cluster, of which Messier 87 is the largest member. The huge halo around giant elliptical galaxy Messier 87 appears on this very deep image taken by Chris Mihos of Case Western Reserve University. 61 Virginis has a multiple-planet system. 70 Virginis has at least one planet known as a super-Jupiter, and the star χ Virginis sports a hugely massive exoplanet. Other stars in the larger region covered by Virgo feature some interesting objects. Other stars include γ Virginis (also known as Porrima), and ε Virginis, also called Vindemiatrix. Planets can also occult Spica, although this happens less frequently than lunar occultations. That means the Moon passes between the Earth and Spica for a few hours, essentially covering up Spica for a brief period. As a result, Spica is occasionally occulted by the Moon. Spica lies very close to the orbital path followed by the Earth, Sun, and planets in our solar system. Spica lies about 250 light-years away from us, and its two stars orbit a common center of gravity approximately every four days. It's a binary star, which means that there are two stars in a very close orbital dance with each other. The alpha (α) denotes the brightest star, beta (β) the second-brightest star, and so on. Star charts often show them with a Greek letter next to each star. The constellation Virgo has nine major stars. Observers with good telescopes should hunt down the many galaxies that lie along the northern edge of the constellation, near Vindemiatrix. The entire constellation of Virgo is shown with IAU boundaries and the brightest stars that make up the pattern.
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