The identity of Virgo has been much debated, with the Greek goddess of justice Dike being a prime candidate. However, Virgo holds a sheaf of wheat (Spica, her brightest star, means an ear of corn in Latin) and she is clearly connected with fertility, which suggests a connection with Demeter, the Greek goddess of fertility (and other fertility goddesses), as the constellation in ancient times first appeared at dawn during the harvest. It is the second largest constellation after Hydra, and likewise it is not easy to make out in a light-polluted area. It resembles a woman lying down (although she is actually standing up) and the brightest stars form the quadrilateral which forms her torso, first magnitude Spica and three stars which are remarkably all magnitude 3.4. One arm is formed by Vindemiatrix (which means grape gatherer) which is third magnitude, but the other stars are all fourth magnitude.

Virgo contains a large number of galaxies which are mostly members of the Virgo galactic cluster and are often elliptical galaxies. However, most galaxies are not easy to see in a small telescope in a light-polluted area, and the simplest course of action is just to forget about them. Unfortunately, this leaves us without much to observe in Virgo. The best galaxy to attempt is the Sombrero Galaxy [1] (Messier 104); not least because it has two arrows pointing to it. The larger arrow is sometimes called the Corvus arrow, a line of mostly sixth magnitude stars which starts above Gienah (see Corvus) and ends with a triangular arrowhead. However, this actually points to the Stargate asterism (STF 1659) rather than M104.

Now we are in the right area, we can use another multiple star (STF 1664) to point us exactly to the Sombrero Galaxy. Next, let’s turn to another asterism, the Bowl of Virgo, which is chockful of galaxies. Now draw a line between Denebola in Leo and Vindemiatrix, and roughly halfway are two fairly bright elliptical galaxies close together, Messier 84 and Messier 86 [2]. I would suggest using a good star map or go-to to be on the safe side. They are part of the much larger Markarian’s chain of galaxies.

Now move slightly closer to Vindemiatrix and we arrive at Messier 87 [3], an elliptical galaxy famous for its super-massive black hole. Then, whether you have succeeded or not, move even closer to Vindemiatrix to locate Messier 58 [4], which is a barred spiral galaxy and thus not unlike our own galaxy. In all these cases, you will probably only see a faint fuzzy spot and averted vision will help. Finally, if all else fails, try to observe the brightest galaxy in Virgo, Messier 49 [5], an elliptical galaxy, which is roughly halfway between Denebola and Minelauva (again use a map or go-to).

There is only one good double which is on the chart (the other one, 54 Viriginis, is off the bottom edge and has been included in Hydra). Porrima is a binary star with an orbital period of 169 years and when the two stars are at their closest (as in 2006), they cannot be split even in a fairly large telescope. Fortunately, we are in a period when they are moving apart and currently the separation is a fairly decent 3.3 arcsecond, but you will still need a high magnification. The two stars are yellow-white and equal in brightness (mag. 3.5), which makes a splendid sight.

Finally, Virgo contains a great rarity: a quasar which can be seen with a large amateur telescope (at least 300mm aperture), namely 3C 273 [6]. It is at the bottom of the Bowl of Virgo, above Porrima and Zaniah, but you will need accurate go-to to locate it as it is so faint (mag. 14.8). It will only be a faint blue spot, but it is the only quasar you are likely to see with the human eye.