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M87 in 60 Seconds
Narrator (Megan Watzke, CXC): M87 is a giant elliptical galaxy. At a distance of about
60 million light-years from Earth, M87 is the largest galaxy in the Virgo cluster of
some 2,000 galaxies. Bright jets moving at close to the speed of light are seen at nearly
all wavelengths, powered by the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy. In
X-rays, M87 shows evidence for a series of outbursts from the black hole. These outbursts
appear as loops and bubbles in the data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The Hubble
Space Telescope shows that the monstrous elliptical galaxy is also home to trillions of stars
and thousands of globular clusters. Because of its proximity and brightness, as well as
its intriguing properties, M87 is one of the most popular targets for amateur and professional
astronomers alike.