Object Analysis

Virgo A (Messier 87) is a supergiant elliptical galaxy in the constellation Virgo. It is one of the most massive galaxies in the local universe, containing several trillion stars, and dominates the Virgo Cluster. It is located about 53 million light-years from Earth.

M87 is most famous for its supermassive black hole, M87*, which was the subject of the first-ever direct image of a black hole's shadow captured by the Event Horizon Telescope in 2019. This black hole is a behemoth, weighing 6.5 billion times the mass of our Sun.

A prominent jet of energetic plasma originates at the core and extends at least 5,000 light-years, traveling at relativistic speeds. This jet is clearly visible in Hubble images and even in large amateur telescopes as a faint streak emanating from the galaxy's center.