这个集团中较明亮的一些星系,包括巨大椭圆星系M87,都在1770年代末至1780年代初被梅西尔收录在他的类似彗星天体的目录中。它们最初被形容为「不含恒星的星云」(nebulae without stars),直到1920年代人们才认清它们的真正本质。
英语百科
Virgo Cluster 室女座星系团
The Virgo Cluster (VC) is a cluster of galaxies whose center is 53.8 ± 0.3 Mly (16.5 ± 0.1 Mpc)
away in the constellation Virgo. Comprising approximately 1300 (and possibly up to 2000) member galaxies, the cluster forms the heart of the larger Virgo Supercluster, of which the Local Group (LG) is an outlying member. However, the LG experiences the mass of the VC Supercluster as the Virgocentric flow. It is estimated that the VC's mass is 1.2×10M☉ out to 8 degrees of the cluster's center or a radius of about 2.2 Mpc.