Article
Article
Virgo
Article By:
Yu, Ching-Sung Formerly, Hood College, Frederick, Maryland.
Last reviewed:January 2021
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.733000
The Virgin, perhaps Astraea, in Greek mythology the goddess of justice, whose scales (the constellation Libra) are adjacent. Also, she could be Ceres, goddess of agriculture, or her daughter Proserpina who, because she ate from a forbidden pomegranate, must spend half her year with Pluto, her husband, in Hades, leaving winter behind for the rest of us. This southern zodiacal constellation is visible in the summer evening sky from midnorthern latitudes. It contains the nearest cluster of galaxies to us; the Milky Way Galaxy is in an outer part of the cluster. See also: Libra; Virgo cluster; Zodiac
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