Episode 15: Virgo

Dog Stars

Chris and Mr Max are out on a lovely May evening, learning how to find the constellation of Virgo and its brilliant star, Spica. Find out what's special about this star, where the Milky Way is heading, and what the connection between a black hole and one of Mr Max's favourite foods is. There are some great images of Virgo galaxies here: https://esahubble.org/images/heic0815i/ and here: https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/astrophotography/galaxies/markarians-chain/ And you can see the doughnut around the giant black hole in the galaxy M87 here: https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/2041-8205/page/Focus_on_EHT