Dust and debris from the remnants of the comet enter the Earths atmosphere and burn up. Two supernovae have been observed in the galaxy: SN 1988A in January 1988 and SN 1989M in June 1989. It is approximately 2.443 gigalight years away. The mount ensures that the telescope is perfectly balanced for easy point-and-view use. The galaxy is believed to have a supermassive black hole with 565 million solar masses at its core. This point will pass into the neighboring constellation of Leo around the year 2440. In Greek, the word Virgo is , read as Parthnos. NGC 4435 is a barred lenticular galaxy. The Orion SkyQuest XT8 Classic Dobsonian Telescope is ideal for beginners who want to grow into experienced stargazers. To the ancient Romans, Porrima was a Virgo goddess of the future and prophecy. Virgo Constellation Fun Fact for Kids In other stories, the constellation Virgo is identified with Demeter, the corn goddess Atargatis, the Syrian goddess of fertility, and Erigone, the daughter of Icarius, who hanged herself after her fathers death. The constellation contains many notable bright stars, and the brightest one is Beta Virginis or Spica with a magnitude of 0.98. The star Chi Virginis has one of the most massive planets ever detected, with a mass of 11.1 times that of Jupiter. Due to the effects of precession, the first point of Libra, (also known as the autumn equinox point) lies within the boundaries of Virgo very close to Virginis. The most well-known is the story of Persephone, daughter of Demeter, the harvest goddess. It was the first quasar ever to be identified, and was discovered in the early 1960s by astronomer Allan Sandage. Also included is an EZ Finder II reflex sight, a 25mm Sirius Plossl eyepiece, and Starry Night software that you can download. In Chinese astronomy, during the Ming Dynasty, between 70 BC and 50 BCE, the celestial globe was defined and included the Enclosures. Virgo is the second largest constellation in the sky. This massive cluster contains around 2,000 galaxies. Confusion and chaos run wild when it comes to the naming of and the mythology behind the constellation of Virgo (I bet that drives Virgos crazy!). 61 Virginis is a yellow main sequence dwarf belonging to the spectral class G5V approximately 27.9 light years distant. Spica is the brightest star in Virgo and the 15th brightest star in the sky. The Babylonians knew it as The Furrow, representing the goddess Shalas ear of grain. NGC 4526 is a lenticular galaxy. Its name is Latin and means the virgin. Image: NASA/ESA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA). The word Virgo is probably related to virga, a young shoot, or twig. It has a surrounding disk of gas and dust that extends about 150,000 light years from the galaxy and jets of hot particles extending about 100,000 light years outward. To give some idea, the brightest star in Virgo is Spica which is about 260 light-years away from Earth. This Virgo symbol meaning indicates that people born under this sign tend to be cheerful, loyal, and passionate. Within this galaxys center it contains a supermassive black hole, one with 400 solar masses. It is 23 times more luminous than the Sun. The galaxy has a visual magnitude of 10.7 and is about 55 million light years distant. It is a major radio source, partially due to its jet of electrons being flung out of the galaxy by its central supermassive black hole. Johann Gottfried Koehler discovered it in April 1779. Lying between Leo to the west and Libra to the east, it is the second-largest constellation in the sky (after Hydra) and the largest constellation in the zodiac. NGC 4435 is a barred lenticular galaxy. March heralds the beginning of spring for us in the northern hemisphere. Although it is dimmer, Denebola is more equilateral for the asterism. Virgo contains eleven Messier objects: Messier 49 (M49, NGC 4472), Messier 58 (M58, NGC 4579), Messier 59 (M59, NGC 4621), Messier 60 (M60, NGC 4649), Messier 61 (M61, NGC 4303), Messier 84 (M84, NGC 4374), Messier 86 (M86, NGC 4406), Messier 87 (M87, NGC 4486), Messier 89 (M89, NGC 4552), Messier 90 (M90, NGC 4569) and Messier 104 (M104, NGC 4594, Sombrero Galaxy). Most constellations get their names from ancient cultures, folklore or mythology. One of the most interesting Virgo fun facts is that she is the only female figure out of the 12 Zodiac signs (7). The name Virgo is derived from the word virgin in reference to the goddess Astraea. The real Virgo star constellation has two other zodiac constellations as neighbors in the night sky. It also belongs to the Virgo Cluster and is one of its larger member galaxies. Virgo is one of the 17 constellations that represents a mythological character. Virgos name comes from the Latin word for virgin, and it is found near the ecliptic with Libra to the east and Leo to the west. Spring constellations become exciting to see as they signify this time of year. Two supernovae were discovered in the galaxy: SN 1969E in 1969 and SN 1994D in 1994. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Besides Spica, other bright stars in Virgo include Virginis (Zavijava), Virginis (Porrima), Virginis (Auva) and Virginis (Vindemiatrix). In May, June and July look towards the southern to western sky at around 10.00pm. Many people ask what planet is Virgo? The Mythology Behind The Virgo Constellation Explained. This means it is a system whose two stars are so close together they are egg-shaped rather than spherical, and they can only be separated by their spectra. It is the 3rd brightest giant elliptical galaxy in the cluster. Two candidates for stellar mass black holes, ones formed by gravitational collapses of massive stars, were discovered in a M49 cluster in the last decade. This striking image, taken with the FORS2 instrument on the Very Large Telescope, shows a beautiful yet peculiar pair of galaxies, NGC 4438 and NGC 4435, nicknamed The Eyes. The The constellations brightest star, Spica, is at the base of the Y. The black holes boundary the event horizon from which the EHT takes its name is around 2.5 times smaller than the shadow it casts and measures just under 40 billion km across. The Virgo constellation offers fabulous meteor showers that will delight home stargazers. The Romans associated it with their goddess Ceres. The ruling planet for Virgo is Mercury. What is the ruling planet of Virgo in November 2018? Spica is a binary star system, consisting of one very bright star and a dimmer partner. Some may be as close as 60 light-years, and others as far as millions of light-years. This is a yellow star belonging to the spectral class F2III.