Centaurus is a bright constellation in the southern sky. One of the largest constellations, Centaurus was included among the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations. In Greek mythology, Centaurus represents a centaur; a creature that is half human, half horse. Notable stars include Alpha Centauri, the nearest star system to the Solar System, its neighbour in the sky Beta Centauri, and HR 5171, one of the largest stars yet discovered. The constellation also contains Omega Centauri, the brightest globular cluster as visible from Earth and the largest identified in the Milky Way, possibly a remnant of a dwarf galaxy.
Virgo is one of the constellations of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for maiden, and its old astronomical symbol is . Between Leo to the west and Libra to the east, it is the second-largest constellation in the sky and the largest constellation in the zodiac. The ecliptic intersects the celestial equator within this constellation and Pisces. Underlying these technical two definitions, the sun passes directly overhead of the equator, within this constellation, at the September equinox. Virgo can be easily found through its brightest star, Spica.
An elliptical galaxy is a type of galaxy with an approximately ellipsoidal shape and a smooth, nearly featureless image. They are one of the three main classes of galaxy described by Edwin Hubble in his Hubble sequence and 1936 work The Realm of the Nebulae, along with spiral and lenticular galaxies. Elliptical (E) galaxies are, together with lenticular galaxies (S0) with their large-scale disks, and ES galaxies with their intermediate scale disks, a subset of the "early-type" galaxy population.
Hydra is the largest of the 88 modern constellations, measuring 1303 square degrees, and also the longest at over 100 degrees. Its southern end borders Libra and Centaurus and its northern end borders Cancer. It was included among the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy. Commonly represented as a water snake, it straddles the celestial equator.
The Virgo Cluster is a large cluster of galaxies whose center is 53.8 ± 0.3 Mly away in the constellation Virgo. Comprising approximately 1,300 member galaxies, the cluster forms the heart of the larger Virgo Supercluster, of which the Local Group is a member. The Local Group actually experiences the mass of the Virgo Supercluster as the Virgocentric flow. It is estimated that the Virgo Cluster's mass is 1.2×1015M☉ out to 8 degrees of the cluster's center or a radius of about 2.2 Mpc.
A lenticular galaxy is a type of galaxy intermediate between an elliptical and a spiral galaxy in galaxy morphological classification schemes. It contains a large-scale disc but does not have large-scale spiral arms. Lenticular galaxies are disc galaxies that have used up or lost most of their interstellar matter and therefore have very little ongoing star formation. They may, however, retain significant dust in their disks. As a result, they consist mainly of aging stars. Despite the morphological differences, lenticular and elliptical galaxies share common properties like spectral features and scaling relations. Both can be considered early-type galaxies that are passively evolving, at least in the local part of the Universe. Connecting the E galaxies with the S0 galaxies are the ES galaxies with intermediate-scale discs.
Messier 85 is a lenticular galaxy, or elliptical galaxy for other authors, in the Coma Berenices constellation. It is 60 million light-years away, and has a diameter of about 36.99 kiloparsecs across.
Messier 91 is a barred spiral galaxy that is found in the south of Coma Berenices. It is in the local supercluster and is part of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. It is about 63 million light-years away from our galaxy. It was the last of a group of eight "nebulae" – the term 'galaxy' only coming into use for these objects once it was realized in the 20th century that they were extragalactic – discovered by Charles Messier in 1781. It is the faintest object in the Messier catalog, with an apparent magnitude of 10.2.
NGC 4710 is an edge-on lenticular galaxy in the northern constellation of Coma Berenices. It was discovered on March 21, 1784 by German-British astronomer William Herschel. This galaxy has a B-band visual magnitude of 11.60 and an angular size of 3.0′ × 0.8′. It is located at a distance of 54.5 ± 3.6 million light-years (16.7 ± 1.1 Mpc) from the Milky Way, and is receding with a heliocentric radial velocity of 1,129 km/s. This is a member of the Virgo Cluster, with a projected offset of ~6° from the cluster center and a cluster crossing time of around two billion years.
NGC 4889 is an E4 supergiant elliptical galaxy. It was discovered in 1785 by the British astronomer Frederick William Herschel I, who catalogued it as a bright, nebulous patch. The brightest galaxy within the northern Coma Cluster, it is located at a median distance of 94 million parsecs from Earth. At the core of the galaxy is a supermassive black hole that heats the intracluster medium through the action of friction from infalling gases and dust. The gamma ray bursts from the galaxy extend out to several million light years of the cluster.
NGC 174 is a barred spiral or lenticular galaxy around 159 million light-years away in the constellation Sculptor. It was discovered on 27 September 1834 by astronomer John Herschel.
NGC 525, also occasionally referred to as PGC 5232 or UGC 972, is a lenticular galaxy located approximately 95.6 million light-years from the Solar System in the constellation Pisces. It was discovered on 25 September 1862 by astronomer Heinrich d'Arrest.
NGC 4598 is a barred lenticular galaxy located in the constellation Virgo. NGC 4598 was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on April 15, 1784. The distance to NGC 4598 has not been accurately determined; measurements vary from 64 to 102 million light-years. According to the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database, its redshift based distance is 102 Mly (31.3 Mpc) while its redshift independent based distance is 88.71 Mly (27.200 Mpc). Also, according to SIMBAD, its distance is 63.7 Mly (19.54 Mpc). NGC 4598's average distance is 84.8 Mly (26.0 Mpc). NGC 4598 is usually considered to be a member of the Virgo Cluster. However, P. Fouqu´e et al. suggests it may be a background galaxy independent of the main cluster.
NGC 4665, also catalogued as NGC 4624 and NGC 4664, is a barred lenticular or spiral galaxy located in the constellation Virgo. It is a member of the Virgo II Groups, a series of galaxies and galaxy clusters strung out from the southern edge of the Virgo Supercluster. It is located at a distance of circa 60 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 4665 is about 75,000 light years across. NGC 4665 lies 2 and 3/4 degrees east-south east of Delta Virginis and 50 arcminutes southwest of 35 Virginis. It can be viewed through a moderately sized telescope with 23x magnification, forming a pair with an 11th magnitude star 1.5 arcminutes southwest. It is part of the Herschel 400 Catalogue.
NGC 4014 also known as NGC 4028, is a type S0-a lenticular galaxy in the Coma Berenices constellation. NGC 4014 is located 197 million light-years from Earth. The galaxy is situated close to the celestial equator and, as such, it is at least partly visible from both hemispheres at certain times of the year.
NGC 3776 is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Virgo. It is classified as an Sb-type galaxy, which signifies it has moderately tightly wound spiral arms. This galaxy was discovered in 1886 by astronomer Ormond Stone, known for his work cataloging celestial objects in the southern hemisphere. NGC 3776 has a visual magnitude of 16, making it challenging to observe without a telescope. The galaxy is cataloged within the New General Catalogue (NGC), a comprehensive listing of deep-sky objects compiled by John Louis Emil Dreyer in 1888 to include discoveries like Stone’s.
NGC 3833 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the constellation Virgo, about 280 million light-years from Earth. Discovered by astronomer William Herschel on April 15, 1784, NGC 3833 has a Hubble classification of "Sc," indicating loosely wound spiral arms and a relatively small central bulge. The galaxy spans roughly 1.4 by 0.7 arcminutes in the night sky and shines with an apparent magnitude of around 13.5, making it a faint object suitable for observation with larger telescopes.
NGC 3848 is a faint lenticular galaxy located in the constellation Virgo, notable for its small size and distant position in the sky. First observed by William Herschel in 1785, this galaxy has an apparent magnitude of approximately 13.1, making it challenging to observe without advanced telescopic equipment. It has angular dimensions of roughly 1.4 by 0.8 arcminutes and is situated about 288 million light-years from Earth.
NGC 1153 is a lenticular galaxy located in the constellation Cetus. It was discovered by Lewis Swift on December 30, 1880. The galaxy is cataloged as type S0-a, indicating a lenticular morphology, which lies between spiral and elliptical galaxies.
NGC 1157 is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Eridanus. It has been classified as an "Sb" type spiral galaxy. The galaxy's redshift (z) of 0.029544 places it at a distance of about 124.8 megaparsecs from Earth. NGC 1157 has angular dimensions of 0.60' by 0.3' and is faint, with a visual magnitude of 14.8 and a blue magnitude of 15.6. Its surface brightness is about 12.8 magnitudes per square arcminute. NGC 1157 is also cataloged as PGC 11218.
