Map of the Universe

M87

Galaxy · Galaxy in the constellation Virgo

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M87
Picture: en:NASA, en:STScI, en:WikiSky, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

About M87

The light we see from it set out 0.0537 billion years ago, when the universe was 13.7 billion years old (redshift 0.003727).

The map lists it as a galaxy and shows it at the scale of the large-scale universe, drawn on the supergalactic plane.

The giant elliptical at the heart of the Virgo Cluster. Its 6.5-billion-sun black hole was the first ever imaged (Event Horizon Telescope, 2019).

Key numbers

Distance53.82 million light-years (16.50 Mpc)
Redshift z0.003727
Light travel time0.0537 billion years
Universe's age when this light left13.7 billion years
Distance methodredshift-independent (literature)
Supergalactic coordinatesSGL 102.9°, SGB -2.3°

Where it is

Its place in the universe, from the inside out: Virgo Supercluster › Laniakea Supercluster › Observable universe.

Zoom out to see it in context: Virgo Supercluster, a view about 230 million light-years across.

From Wikipedia

Messier 87 is a supergiant elliptical galaxy in the constellation Virgo that contains several trillion stars.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Messier 87, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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