Finding Virgo Virgo has a total area of 1,294 square degrees. Virgo, the sign of fertility and agriculture, emerges in the Northern Hemisphere during the spring and summer months and in the Southern Hemisphere during the autumn and winter months. It is located between 30°N and 20°S latitudes. Virgo is one of the constellations of the zodiac. It was named after the Virgin Mary because medieval Christians believed that she appeared to St. Bernard on this date in 1235. Modern astronomers believe that Virgo probably wasn't the original name for this constellation but instead took on that name many years later. In fact, early maps show signs of activity in other parts of the sky besides just Virgo. They also show a constellation called Mammon (which is now part of Libra) between Virgo and Leo. This suggests that these two regions were not named at first in order of appearance but instead had names given to them by earlier observers. Virgo has four stars that are visible with the naked eye. These are Virgo Centauri, the center of the galaxy; Virgo A, a large elliptical galaxy; Virgo B, a small spiral galaxy; and Messier 53, a giant elliptical galaxy. M53 is a distant member of the Virgo Cluster that contains hundreds of galaxies all within a distance of 100 million light-years from our own Milky Way Galaxy.