With its center only about 70 million light years away, the Virgo Cluster of galaxies is by intergalactic standards our next-door neighbor. It is, in fact, so close to our own Milky Way that both are believed to be part of a larger system. Galaxies in the cluster are literally “swarming,” moving at enormous speeds up to 2,500 kilometers per second. All the major types of galaxies (elliptical, spiral, lenticular, and irregular) are represented here. The largest known galaxies, such as the giant M87 in the Virgo Cluster, are ellipticals. Spirals, which are more common in loose clusters, are a minority in the Virgo Cluster. 
    Galaxy clusters are but one link in the great organizing chain of the universe. Billions of stars are bound by gravity into galaxies;