Local Supercluster

The supercluster to which our own Local Group of galaxies belongs. By supercluster standards it is of very modest size with only one rich cluster of galaxies, the Virgo Cluster, at its center; the Local Group, which belongs to the Canes Venatici cloud of galaxies, lies in the outskirts. The Local Supercluster appears to be made of two major structures: a flattened disk, which has a thickness of about 5 million light-years and contains about 60% of the bright galaxies, and a roughly spherical halo, which contains the remaining 40% of the bright galaxies in a small number of clouds.

Related category

• GALAXIES

Also on this site:

Encyclopedia of Alternative Energy & Sustainable Living
Encyclopedia of History

BACK TO TOP