Our universe contains multitudes. And the newly operational Vera C. Rubin Observatory is capturing more details of these multitudes for us to behold—and learn from. One revelation is an in-depth look at a portion of the Virgo Cluster, a group of galaxies some 54 light-years away in the constellation of Virgo.
The cluster has more than a thousand galaxies—some suggest as many as 2,000 or more—and this image shows just a small segment of it. Even so, the field of view contains three galaxies that are mid-merge, two spiral galaxies, and a smattering of stars closer to home, in our own home galaxy of the Milky Way.
Released last month, with the observatory’s first batch of images, this fresh portrait of one corner of the cosmos will help astronomers better understand the varied evolutionary paths and fates of galaxies, including our own. 
Lead image: NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory
