Messier 87 (also known as M87, Virgo A or NGC 4486) is a giant elliptical galaxy. The galaxy is the largest and brightest galaxy within the northern Virgo Cluster, located about 55 million light years away.^[3] The galaxy also contains a notable active galactic nucleus that is a strong source of multiwavelength radiation, particularly radio waves.^[4] Since this is the largest giant elliptical galaxy near Earth and since it is one of the brightest radio sources in the sky, it is a popular target for both amateur astronomy observations and professional astronomy study. M87 is estimated to have a mass, within 32 kpc of its center, of 2.4 ± 0.6  × 10¹² M_☉.^[5] Messier 87"s diameter is a 120,000 light-years.

In 1918, Lick Observatory astronomer Heber Curtis discovered a jet of matter coming from M87 which he described as "a curious straight ray." This jet extends at least 5000 light-years from the nucleus of M87 and is made up of matter ejected from the galaxy, most likely by a supermassive black hole (a hypothesis made more likely by the discovery of a disk of rapidly rotating gas around the nucleus of M87). Astronomers believe that the black hole in this galaxy has a mass of approximately 6.4 billion (6.4×10⁹) solar masses. M87 has also been found to be a strong source of X-rays. Its proximity means that it is one of the best studied radio galaxies.

^{Source: wikipedia}