Stargazing in May: V is for Virgo

Surveys with large telescopes reveal at least 2,000 galaxies in the Virgo cluster, along with an immense amount of dark matter whose gravity glues the cluster together, writes Nigel Henbest

Messier 87 (M87) is an enormous elliptical galaxy (ESO)

The ancient Romans celebrated this time of year with the Floralia, a weeklong festival in honour of Flora, the goddess of springtime, flowers and fertility. We still have an echo of these rites of spring in our May Day traditions, with its pagan maypole andthe May Queen, dressed in white and decorated with blossom.

And the sky has its own May Queen this month, in the shape of the constellation Virgo. In ancient Babylon, this star pattern was identified as a furrow in a field, symbolising a fruitful harvest. The Greeks, on the other hand, saw these stars as their goddess of justice, Astraea, who was wise and virtuous. She lived on Earth during the Golden Age of the world, but as humans became greedy and deceitful she ascended to the heavens. Her scales of justice lie at her feet, as the constellation Libra.

Virgo is the second largest constellation in the sky, after neighbouring Hydra (the Water Snake). Its chief glory is the bright star Spica, whose name – meaning ‘ear of corn’ – harks back to the Babylonian tradition.