Virgo Supercluster - wikipedia Virgo Supercluster `` Local Supercluster '' redirects here. For the supercluster discovered in 2014, where Virgo SCl is the local concentration of clusters component of the Local Supercluster, see Laniakea Supercluster. Virgo Supercluster Distances from the Local Group for selected groups and clusters within the Local Supercluster Observation data ( Epoch J2000 ) Redshift Doppler shift Binding mass ~ 1.48 × 10 M Luminosity ( specify ) 3 × 10 L Other designations Local Supercluster, LSC, LS See also : Galaxy groups, Galaxy clusters, List of superclusters The Virgo Supercluster ( Virgo SC ) or the Local Supercluster ( LSC or LS ) is a mass concentration of galaxies containing the Virgo Cluster and Local Group, which in turn contains the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies. At least 100 galaxy groups and clusters are located within its diameter of 33 megaparsecs ( 110 million light - years ). The Virgo SC is one of about 10 million superclusters in the observable universe and is in the Pisces -- Cetus Supercluster Complex, a galaxy filament. A 2014 study indicates that the Virgo Supercluster is only a lobe of an even greater supercluster, Laniakea, a larger, competing referent of Local Supercluster centered on the Great Attractor. Contents 1 Background 2 Structure 3 Galaxy distribution 4 Cosmology 4.1 Large - scale dynamics 4.2 Dark matter 5 Maps 6 Diagrams 7 See also 8 References 9 Further reading 10 External links Background Beginning with the first large sample of nebulae published by William and John Herschel in 1863, it was known that there is a marked excess of nebular fields in the constellation Virgo ( near the north galactic pole ). In the 1950s, French -- American astronomer Gérard Henri de Vaucouleurs was the first to argue that this excess represented a large - scale galaxy - like structure, coining the term `` Local Supergalaxy '' in 1953, which he changed to `` Local Supercluster '' ( LSC ) in 1958. ( Harlow Shapley, in his 1959 book Of Stars and Men, suggested the term Metagalaxy. ) Debate went on during the 1960s and 1970s as to whether the Local Supercluster ( LS ) was actually a structure or a chance alignment of galaxies. The issue was resolved with the large redshift surveys of the late 1970s and early 1980s, which convincingly showed the flattened concentration of galaxies along the supergalactic plane. Structure In a comprehensive 1982 paper, R. Brent Tully presented the conclusions of his research concerning the basic structure of the LS. It consists of two components : an appreciably flattened disk containing two - thirds of the supercluster 's luminous galaxies, and a roughly spherical halo containing the remaining one - third. The disk itself is a thin ( ~ 1 Mpc ) ellipsoid with a long axis / short axis ratio of at least 6 to 1, and possibly as high as 9 to 1. Data released in June 2003 from the 5 - year Two - degree - Field Galaxy Redshift Survey ( 2dF ) has allowed astronomers to compare the LS to other superclusters. The LS represents a typical poor ( that is, lacking a high density core ) supercluster of rather small size. It has one rich galaxy cluster in the center, surrounded by filaments of galaxies and poor groups. The Local Group is located on the outskirts of the LS in a small filament extending from the Fornax Cluster to the Virgo Cluster. The Virgo Supercluster 's volume is very approximately 7000 times that of the Local Group or 100 billion times that of the Milky Way. See volumes of similar orders of magnitude. Galaxy distribution The number density of galaxies in the LS falls off with the square of the distance from its center near the Virgo Cluster, suggesting that this cluster is not randomly located. Overall, the vast majority of the luminous galaxies ( less than absolute magnitude − 13 ) are concentrated in a small number of clouds ( groups of galaxy clusters ). Ninety - eight percent can be found in the following 11 clouds ( given in decreasing order of number of luminous galaxies ) : Canes Venatici, Virgo Cluster, Virgo II ( southern extension ), Leo II, Virgo III, Crater ( NGC 3672 ), Leo I, Leo Minor ( NGC 2841 ), Draco ( NGC 5907 ), Antlia ( NGC 2997 ) and NGC 5643. Of the luminous galaxies located in the disk, one third are in the Virgo Cluster, while the remainder are found in the Canes Venatici Cloud and Virgo II Cloud, plus the somewhat insignificant NGC 5643 Group. The luminous galaxies in the halo are also concentrated in a small number of clouds ( 94 % in 7 clouds ). This distribution indicates that `` most of the volume of the supergalactic plane is a great void. '' A helpful analogy that matches the observed distribution is that of soap bubbles. Flattish clusters and superclusters are found at the intersection of bubbles, which are large, roughly spherical ( on the order of 20 -- 60 Mpc in diameter ) voids in space. Long filamentary structures seem to predominate. An example of this is the Hydra - Centaurus Supercluster, the nearest supercluster to the LS, which starts at a distance of roughly 30 Mpc and extends to 60 Mpc. Cosmology Large - scale dynamics Since the late 1980s it has been apparent that not only the Local Group, but all matter out to a distance of at least 50 Mpc is experiencing a bulk flow on the order of 600 km / s in the direction of the Norma Cluster ( Abell 3627 ). Lynden - Bell et al. ( 1988 ) dubbed the cause of this the `` Great Attractor ''. The Great Attractor is now understood to be the center of mass of an even larger structure of galaxy clusters, dubbed `` Laniakea '', which includes the Virgo Supercluster ( including the Local Group ) as well as the Hydra - Centaurus Supercluster, the Pavo - Indus Supercluster, and the Fornax Group. Dark matter The LS has a total mass M ≈ 10 M and a total optical luminosity L ≈ 3 × 10 L. This yields a mass - to - light ratio of about 300 times that of the solar ratio ( M / L = 1 ), a figure that is consistent with results obtained for other superclusters. By comparison, the mass - to - light ratio for the Milky Way is 63.8 assuming a solar absolute magnitude of 4.83, a Milky Way absolute magnitude of − 20.9, and a Milky Way mass of 1.25 × 10 M. These ratios are one of the main arguments in favor of the presence of large amounts of dark matter in the universe ; if dark matter did not exist, a much smaller mass - to - light ratios would be expected. Maps The Virgo Supercluster in supergalactic coordinates ( click on feature names for more information ) The nearest galaxy groups projected onto the supergalactic plane ( click on feature names for more information ) Diagrams A diagram of our location in the observable universe. ( Click here for larger image. ) See also Cosmology portal Abell catalogue Large - scale structure of the universe List of Abell clusters Supercluster References ^ Jump up to : Einasto, M. ; et al. ( December 2007 ). `` The richest superclusters. I. Morphology ''. Astronomy and Astrophysics. 476 ( 2 ) : 697 -- 711. arXiv : 0706.1122. Bibcode : 2007A&A... 476... 697E. doi : 10.1051 / 0004 - 6361 : 20078037. Jump up ^ R. Brent Tully ; Hélène Courtois ; Yehuda Hoffman ; Daniel Pomarède ( 2 September 2014 ). `` The Laniakea supercluster of galaxies ''. Nature ( published 4 September 2014 ). 513 ( 7516 ) : 71 -- 73. arXiv : 1409.0880. Bibcode : 2014Natur. 513... 71T. doi : 10.1038 / nature13674. PMID 25186900. Jump up ^ cfa.harvard.edu, The Geometry of the Local Supercluster, John P. Huchra, 2007 ( accessed 12 - 12 - 2008 ) Jump up ^ Shapley, Harlow Of Stars and Men ( 1959 ) Jump up ^ de Vaucouleurs, G. ( March 1981 ). `` The Local Supercluster of Galaxies ''. Bulletin of the Astronomical Society of India. 9 : 6 ( see note ). Bibcode : 1981BASI... 9... 1D. ^ Jump up to : Klypin, Anatoly ; et al. ( October 2003 ). `` Constrained Simulations of the Real Universe : The Local Supercluster ''. The Astrophysical Journal. 596 ( 1 ) : 19 -- 33. arXiv : astro - ph / 0107104. Bibcode : 2003ApJ... 596... 19K. doi : 10.1086 / 377574. Jump up ^ Hu, F.X. ; et al. ( April 2006 ). `` Orientation of Galaxies in the Local Supercluster : A Review ''. Astrophysics and Space Science. 302 ( 1 -- 4 ) : 43 -- 59. arXiv : astro - ph / 0508669. Bibcode : 2006Ap&SS. 302... 43H. doi : 10.1007 / s10509 - 005 - 9006 - 7. ^ Jump up to : Tully, R.B. ( 15 Jun 1982 ). `` The Local Supercluster ''. Astrophysical Journal. 257 ( 1 ) : 389 -- 422. Bibcode : 1982ApJ... 257... 389T. doi : 10.1086 / 159999. Jump up ^ Carroll, Bradley ; Ostlie, Dale ( 1996 ). An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics. New York : Addison - Wesley. p. 1136. ISBN 0 - 201 - 54730 - 9. Jump up ^ Fairall, A.P. ; Vettolani, G. ; Chincarini, G. ( May 1989 ). `` A wide angle redshift survey of the Hydra - Centaurus region ''. Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement Series. 78 ( 2 ) : 270. Bibcode : 1989A&AS... 78... 269F. ISSN 0365 - 0138. Jump up ^ Plionis, Manolis ; Valdarnini, Riccardo ( March 1991 ). `` Evidence for large - scale structure on scales about 300 / h MPC ''. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 249 : 46 -- 61. Bibcode : 1991MNRAS. 249... 46P. doi : 10.1093 / mnras / 249.1. 46. Jump up ^ Small, Todd A. ; et al. ( Jan 1998 ). `` The Norris Survey of the Corona Borealis Supercluster. III. Structure and Mass of the Supercluster ''. Astrophysical Journal. 492 ( 1 ) : 45 -- 56. arXiv : astro - ph / 9708153. Bibcode : 1998ApJ... 492... 45S. doi : 10.1086 / 305037. Jump up ^ Heymans, Catherine ; et al. ( April 2008 ). `` The dark matter environment of the A901 abell A901 / 902 supercluster : a weak lensing analysis of the HST STAGES survey ''. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 385 ( 3 ) : 1431 -- 1442. arXiv : 0801.1156. Bibcode : 2008MNRAS. 385.1431 H. doi : 10.1111 / j. 1365 - 2966.2008. 12919. x. Jump up ^ Williams, D.R. ( 2004 ). `` Sun Fact Sheet ''. NASA. Retrieved 2012 - 03 - 17. Jump up ^ Jerry Coffey. `` Absolute Magnitude ''. Retrieved 2010 - 04 - 09. Jump up ^ McMillan, Paul J. ( July 2011 ), `` Mass models of the Milky Way '', Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 414 ( 3 ) : 2446 -- 2457, arXiv : 1102.4340, Bibcode : 2011MNRAS. 414.2446 M, doi : 10.1111 / j. 1365 - 2966.2011. 18564. x Further reading Tully, Brent ( 1982 ). `` The Local Supercluster ''. Astrophys. J. 257 : 389 -- 422. Bibcode : 1982ApJ... 257... 389T. doi : 10.1086 / 159999. Lynden - Bell, D. ; et al. ( 1988 ). `` Spectroscopy and photometry of elliptical galaxies. V -- Galaxy streaming toward the new supergalactic center ''. Astrophysical Journal. 326 : 19 -- 49. Bibcode : 1988ApJ... 326... 19L. doi : 10.1086 / 166066. External links The Atlas of the Universe, a website created by astrophysicist Richard Powell that shows maps of our local universe on a number of different scales ( similar to above maps ). The Milky Way Location Milky Way → Milky Way subgroup → Local Group → Virgo Supercluster → Laniakea Supercluster → Observable universe → Universe Each arrow ( → ) may be read as `` within '' or `` part of ''. Galactic core Center of the Milky Way Sagittarius A Sagittarius A * Supermassive black hole Spiral arms Carina -- Sagittarius Norma -- Cygnus Orion -- Cygnus Perseus Scutum -- Centaurus Satellite galaxies Magellanic Clouds Large Magellanic Cloud Small Magellanic Cloud Magellanic Stream Magellanic Bridge Sagittarius Spheroidal Sagittarius Stream Boötes II Coma Berenices Messier 54 Palomar 12 Segue 1 Segue 2 Terzan 7 Dwarfs Boötes I Boötes III Canes Venatici I Canes Venatici II Canis Major Carina Crater 2 Draco Fornax Hercules Leo I Leo II Leo IV Leo V Leo T Phoenix Pisces I Pisces II Sculptor Sextans Triangulum II Ursa Major I Ursa Major II Ursa Minor Virgo I Other Monoceros Ring Virgo Stream Koposov I Koposov II Segue 3 Willman 1 Related Andromeda -- Milky Way collision Astronomy portal Earth 's location in the Universe Included Earth → Solar System → Local Interstellar Cloud → Local Bubble → Gould Belt → Orion Arm → Milky Way → Milky Way subgroup → Local Group → Virgo Supercluster → Laniakea Supercluster → Observable universe → Universe Each arrow ( → ) may be read as `` within '' or `` part of ''. Related `` Cosmic View '' ( 1957 essay ) To the Moon and Beyond ( 1964 film ) Cosmic Zoom ( 1968 film ) Powers of Ten ( 1968 and 1977 films ) Cosmic Voyage ( 1996 documentary ) Cosmic Eye ( 2012 ) Order of magnitude Astronomy portal - Cosmology portal Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Virgo_Supercluster&oldid=848609312 '' Categories : Virgo Supercluster Galaxy superclusters Talk Contents About Wikipedia Afrikaans Беларуская Català Čeština Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch Ελληνικά Español فارسی Français 한국어 Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית Latina Lëtzebuergesch Lietuvių Bahasa Melayu မြန်မာဘာသာ Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Română Русский Simple English Slovenčina Suomi Svenska தமிழ் ไทย Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt 中文 30 more Edit links This page was last edited on 3 July 2018, at 02 : 11 ( UTC ). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. 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Question: what galactic cluster is the milky way in
Answer: The Virgo Supercluster (Virgo SC)