Galaxies of the Virgo Cluster

The Virgo Cluster is extremely rich in member galaxies, with over 2000 large and small members. While most of them are very small and can only be detected with huge telescopes, there is still a very large number of promising targets for amateur astronomers, even with small telescopes, starting at 2 or 3 inch, or even binoculars; this fact is suggested already by the fact that Messier's catalog list 16 Virgo cluster members: M49, M58, M59, M60, M61, M84, M85, M86, M87, M88, M89, M90, M91, M98, M99, and M100.

Because of the huge gravity caused by the galaxy cluster's enormous mass, some of the Virgo Cluster members have been accelerated to high peculiar velocities, with respect to the cluster's center of mass, at least up to 1,600 km/sec. As the cluster is receding from us at only 1,100 km/sec, some of its members are moving toward us at considerably high blueshift rates, the highest measured for any extragalactic objects. Others happen to move into the direction away from us, and are thus receding at more than souble the velocity as the cluster. In the following, a list is given of extreme peculiar motions of Virgo Cluster member galaxies (from the Sky Catalog 2000); we give the radial velocity with respect to our Milky Way's Galactic Center:

Toward us:

   IC 3258                    -517 km/s
   M86 (NGC 4406)             -419
   M90 (NGC 4569)             -383
   NGC 4419                   -342
   NGC 4318                   -300
   M98 (NGC 4192)             -220

Away from us:

   NGC 4388                  +2535 km/s
   IC 3453                   +2489
   NGC 4607                  +2367
   NGC 4168                  +2342
   M99 (NGC 4254)            +2324
   NGC 4354                  +2305

Below we give a table of more Virgo Cluster galaxies, ordered by Right Ascension; the selection includes most galaxies brighter than about 11 mag visually, plus some remarkable galaxies:

NGC/IC Name  RA       Dec     Type       m_v    dim      RV     Notes

N4168        12:12.3  +13:12  E0         11.26  2.8x2.6  +2342
N4192   M98  12:13.8  +14:54  Sb I-II    10.13  9.5x3.2  - 220
N4216        12:15.9  +13:09  Sb II       9.98  8.3x2.2  +  55  SAC, RC-F 76
N4254   M99  12:18.8  +14:25  Sc I        9.84  5.4x4.8  +2324
N4267        12:19.8  +12:48  E2         10.89  3.5x3.2  +1177
N4293        12:21.2  +18:23  Sap        11.2p  6.0x3.0  + 825
N4303   M61  12:21.9  +04:28  Sc I        9.67  6.0x5.5  +1483
N4318        12:22.7  +08:12  E          14.1p  0.9x0.7  - 300
N4321  M100  12:22.9  +15:49  Sc I        9.37  6.9x6.2  +1543
I3258        12:23.7  +12:28  SBmp       13.7p  1.9x1.7  - 517
N4354=N4351  12:24.0  +12:12  SBb-p      12.65  2.0x1.4  +2305
N4365        12:24.5  +07:19  E2         10.5p  6.2x4.6  +1074
N4371        12:24.9  +11:42  SBa        10.79  3.9x2.5  + 898
N4374   M84  12:25.1  +12:53  S0          9.27  5.0x4.4  + 854
N4382   M85  12:25.4  +18:11  S0          9.22  7.1x5.2  + 718
N4388        12:25.8  +12:40  Sb         11.05  5.1x1.4  +2535  Near M86; SAC, RC-F 77
N4394        12:25.9  +18:13  SBb-       10.92  3.9x3.5  + 717  Pair with M85
N4406   M86  12:26.2  +12:57  S0          9.18  7.4x5.5  - 419
N4419        12:26.9  +15:03  Ep         11.13  3.4x1.3  - 342
N4429        12:27.4  +11:07  S0         10.16  5.5x2.6  +1029
N4435        12:27.7  +13:05  Sap        10.92  3.0x1.9  + 793  I/A with 4438; "Eyes"
N4438        12:27.8  +13:01  SBa        10.08  9.3x3.9  + 182  I/A with 4435, disrupted ?; SAC, RC-F 78
N4442        12:28.1  +09:48  E5p        10.48  4.6x1.9  + 490
N4450        12:28.5  +17:05  Sb         10.12  4.8x3.5  +1990
N4459        12:29.0  +13:59  E2         10.40  3.8x2.8  +1039
N4472   M49  12:29.8  +08:00  E4          8.37  8.9x7.4  + 817
N4473        12:29.8  +13:26  E4         10.22  4.5x2.6  +2205
N4477        12:30.0  +13:38  S(B)a      10.42  4.0x3.5  +1190
N4486   M87  12:30.8  +12:24  E1          8.62  7.2x6.8  +1180
I3453        12:31.5  +14:51  Ir+        14.9p  1.2x0.2  +2489
N4501   M88  12:32.0  +14:25  Sb+ I       9.52  6.9x3.9  +1989
N4526        12:34.0  +07:42  E7          9.64  7.2x2.3  + 355  "Lost Galaxy" (?); SAC, RC-F 80
N4535        12:34.3  +08:12  S(B)c       9.82  6.8x5.0  +1853  "Lost Galaxy" (?); SAC, RC-F 81
N4548   M91  12:35.4  +14:30  SBb        10.19  5.4x4.4  + 403
N4552   M89  12:35.7  +12:33  E0          9.81  4.2x4.2  + 165
N4567        12:36.5  +11:15  Sc         11.32  3.0x2.1  +2121  I/A with N4568, "siamese twins"; SAC, RC-F 82a
N4568        12:36.6  +11:14  Sc         10.80  4.6x2.1  +2168  I/A with N4567, "siamese twins"; RC-F 82b
N4569   M90  12:36.8  +13:10  Sb+         9.48  9.5x4.7  - 383
N4570        12:36.9  +07:15  S0         10.87  4.1x1.3  +1635
N4571        12:36.9  +14:13  SBc        11.31  3.8x3.4  + 282  "M91?" in GC & NGC; pair w M91=N4548
N4579   M58  12:37.7  +11:49  Sb          9.78  5.4x4.4  +1730
N4596        12:39.9  +10:11  SBa        10.48  3.9x2.8  +1939
N4607        12:41.2  +11:53  SBb:       12.87  3.2x0.8  +2367
N4621   M59  12:42.0  +11:39  E3          9.79  5.1x3.4  + 341
N4647        12:43.5  +11:35  Sc         11.38  3.0x2.5  +1286  Pair with M60
N4649   M60  12:43.7  +11:33  E1          8.83  7.2x6.2  +1128
N4651        12:43.7  +16:24  Scp II:    10.72  3.8x2.7  + 742
N4654=I3708  12:44.0  +13.08  Sc II      10.46  4.7x3.0  + 970
N4660        12:44.5  +11:11  E5         10.99  2.8x1.9  + 944
N4689        12:47.8  +13:46  Sb+ II:    10.93  4.0x3.5  +1715
N4698        12:48.4  +08:29  Sb- II     10.66  4.3x2.5  + 864
N4710        12:49.6  +15:10  S0:        10.97  5.1x1.4  +1076
N4754        12:52.3  +11:19  SB0        10.56  4.7x2.6  +1393  Pair with NGC 4762
N4762        12:52.9  +11:14  SB0        10.22  8.7x1.6  + 878  Pair w NGC 4754, flattest; SAC, RC-F 84

Key:

NGC/IC, Name: NGC or IC number, and other name (e.g., M, or duplicate NGC/IC)
RA, Dec: Right Ascension and Declination for epoch 2000.0
Type: Galaxy type; adopted from Sky Catalog 2000
m_v: visual magnitude
dim: apparent (angular) dimension (in arc minutes)
RV: Radial velocity in km/sec relative to the Galacitic Center
Notes: Remarks and references. References:
SAC = SAC 110 Best NGC
RC-F = RASC Finest NGC

Hartmut Frommert
Christine Kronberg
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Last Modification: March 18, 1998