Virgo is one of the more prominent of Spring constellations -- not because it is the second largest constellation but because of the dominance of its brightest star, Spica.
Virgo is home to one of the richest fields of galaxies, known as the Virgo Galaxy Cluster. About 3000 galaxies form this immense cluster but they are all quite faint, not surprising as they are about 65 million light years away. Thus at least a medium sized telescope is needed to enjoy their variety. While Virgo's asterism doesn't stand out dramatically, if you are fortunate to have nice dark nights you can easily follow the third- and fourth- magnitude stars. Otherwise, you may need the graphic below to help find the various members that make up this ancient constellation. Spica–alpha Virginis–is easily found as this star forms the southern tip of a large triangle with Regulus (alpha Leonis) and Arcturus (alpha Bootis): finding Spica.
Click on Spica to begin.
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