Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 27, 2026

Leo Cloud

The Leo II Groups, Leo II Cloud, or simply the Leo Cloud is a galaxy filament consisting of at least 18 galaxy groups. It is located approximately 86 Mly from the Solar System. The Leo Cloud in supergalactic SGY coordinates is physically behind the Virgo Cluster. Eventually, over the next Hubble time, the galaxy groups that make up the Leo II Cloud will infall and merge with the Virgo Cluster.

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Leo Cloud
The Leo II Groups of galaxies
Observation data (Epoch )
Parent structureVirgo Supercluster1
Major axis
  • Leo Cloud: 15.4 Mpc (50 Mly)1
  • Leo II A Filament : 16.0 Mpc (52 Mly) 2
  • Leo II B Filament : 15.5 Mpc (51 Mly) 2
Minor axis7.9 Mpc (26 Mly)1
Redshift1,200 km/s 3
Distance
  • Leo Cloud: 26.35 Mpc (86 Mly) (Distance based on the average of the distances of the Leo II A and B Filaments)2
  • Leo II A Filament : 26.30 Mpc (86 Mly) 2
  • Leo II B Filament : 26.40 Mpc (86 Mly) 2
Other designations
Leo II Cloud Complex,4 Leo II Cloud,1 Leo Cloud,5 Leo II Groups6

The Leo II Groups,6 Leo II Cloud,1 or simply the Leo Cloud578 is a galaxy filament8 consisting of at least 18 galaxy groups.57 It is located approximately 86 Mly (26 Mpc) from the Solar System.2 The Leo Cloud in supergalactic SGY coordinates is physically behind the Virgo Cluster.9 Eventually, over the next Hubble time, the galaxy groups that make up the Leo II Cloud will infall and merge with the Virgo Cluster.10

The Leo Cloud, along with the Crater Cloud which contains the NGC 4038 Group, is actually part of the same branch of a larger galaxy filament that extends from the Centaurus Cluster through the Virgo Cluster and continues through the Ursa Major Cluster, known as the Virgo Strand. The Virgo Strand is the main component of the Virgo Supercluster and is made of two branches with the lower branch consisting of the Leo and Crater clouds, while the upper branch is known as the Virgo Southern Extension or Virgo II Groups.8

The Leo Cloud itself is actually composed of two filaments, the Leo II A and Leo II B filaments. The Leo II A filament consists of the majority of the cloud, while the Leo II B filament consists of a sparse region of the cloud.2

The Leo Cloud, like the Virgo III Cloud, is prolate and points toward the Virgo Cluster.1

List of groups

Below is a list of groups in the Leo Cloud according to astronomer Brent Tully.57

Column 1: The name of the group in Tully's NBGG57
Column 2: The right ascension for epoch 2000.
Column 3: The declination for epoch 2000.
Column 4: Number of members of the group.
Column 5: Brightest member of the group
Column 6: Redshift of the group.
Column 7: Distance of the group (Millions of light-years).
Column 8: Cross-Identifications with other catalogs.

(Sources for data columns:57111213)

Groups within the Leo Cloud
Name of group R.A. (J2000) Dec. (J2000) Number of members Brightest member Redshift Distance (Mly) Cross-ID
NBGC 21-1 11h 24m 25.6s14 17d 22m 44s14
  • 11 (Tully)
  • 11 (Fourque)
  • 8 (Garcia)
  • 10/16/16 (Giuricin)
 NGC 360713 0.00400014 6814 NGC 3607 Group,15111213 Leo II Group, GHCG 77, TG 36, DV 49, [FWB89] GrG 48, [N93] 65, [N93] 66,15 NGC 3626 Group,11 NGC 3507 Group, LGG 228, NGC 3686 Group, LGG 237,12 NOGG H 527, NOGG P1 532, NOGG P2 54213
NBGC 21-2 11h 02m 47.3s16 17d 59m 22s16
  • 3 (Tully)
 NGC 35017 0.00376916 6616
NBGC 21-3 10h 50m 45.0s17 17d 20m 49s17
  • 10 (Tully)
  • 6 (Fourque)
  • 5 (Garcia)
  • 10/13/13 (Giuricin)
 NGC 33707 0.00427318 7218 NGC 3370 Group,1112 LGG 219,12 NGC 3507 Group, NOGG H 497, P1 512, P2 52213
NBGC 21-4 11h 39m 35.688s13 11d 47m 29.33s13
  • 2 (Tully)
  • 2 (Giuricin)
 NGC 381013 0.00330919 6019 NGC 3810 Group, NOGG P1 561, NOGG NOGG P2 57013
NBGC 21-5 10h 44m 0.8.6s20 13d 40m 30s20
  • 3 (Tully)
  • 3 (Fourque)
  • 4 (Garcia)
  • 4 (Giuricin)
 NGC 333813 0.00428620 7320 NGC 3338 Group,111213 LGG 219,12 NOGG H 480, NOGG P1 498, NOGG P2 50113
NBGC 21-6 10h 21m 35.2s21 21d 07m 41s21
  • 12 (Tully)
  • 5/8 (Fourque)
  • 13 (Garcia)
  • 8/7/7 (Giuricin)
 NGC 319013 0.00467021 7721 NGC 3190 Group, NGC 3227 Group,11 LGG 194,12 NOGG H 454, NOGG P1 469, NOGG P2 47613
NBGC 21-7 11h 03m 36.558s13 28d 00m 22.56s13
  • 2 (Tully)
  • 6 (Garcia)
  • 2 (Giuricin)
 NGC 350413 0.00507422 8222 NGC 3504 Group,1213 LGG 227,12 NOGG P1 519, NOGG P2 52913
NBGC 21-8 10h 28m 55.4s23 28d 47m 52s23
  • 4 (Tully)
  • 4 (Fourque)
  • 5 (Garcia)
  • 5 (Giuricin)
 NGC 32547 0.00461023 7523 NGC 3254 Group,1213 LGG 197,12 NOGG H 465, NOGG P1 479, NOGG P2 48613
NBGC 21-9 10h 51m 46.7s24 32d 51m 31s24
  • 4 (Tully)
  • 5 (Fourque)
  • 6 (Garcia)
  • 4 (Giuricin)
 NGC 343013 0.00500024 8024 NGC 3396 Group,1112 LGG 218,12 NGC 3430 Group, NOGG H 490, NOGG P1 500, NOGG P2 51013
NBGC 21-10 10h 13m 57.0s25 03d 23m 20s25
  • 5 (Tully)
  • 3 (Fourque)
  • 5 (Garcia)
  • 4 (Giuricin)
 NGC 316913 0.00359925 6425 NGC 3166 Group,11 NGC 3169 Group,1213 LGG 192,12 NOGG H 446, NOGG P1 463, NOGG P2 47013
NBGC 21-11 11h 20m 41.4s26 03d 15m 19s26
  • 5 (Tully)
  • 5 (Fourque)
  • 6 (Garcia)
  • 3 (Giuricin)
 NGC 364013 0.00420326 7226 NGC 3640 Group,111213 LGG 233,12 NOGG H 522, NOGG P1 536, NOGG P2 54613
NBGC 21-12 09h 49m 43.946s13 32d 53m 48.99s13
  • 10 (Tully)
  • 3 (Fourque)
  • 4 (Giuricin)
 NGC 300313 0.00493727 7827 NGC 2964 Group,11 NGC 3003 Group, NOGG H 420, NOGG P1 433, NOGG P2 44213
NBGC 21-13 09h 50m 54.242s28 28d 32m 57.12s28
  • 2 (Tully)
  • 2 (Giuricin)
 NGC 302613 0.00492328 7928 NGC 3026 Group, NOGG H 426, NOGG P1 440, NOGG P2 44813
NBGC 21-14 09h 59m 53.783s13 37d 16m 13.72s13
  • 2 (Tully)
  • 2 (Giuricin)
 UGC 534913 0.00459029 7329 UGC 5349 Group, NOGG P1 452, NOGG P2 45913
NBGC 21-15 09h 24m 18.857s13 34h 30m 45.59s13
  • 2 (Tully)
  • 3 (Giuricin)
 NGC 285913 0.00563130 8630 NGC 2859 Group, NOGG H 391, NOGG P1 403, NOGG P2 41213
NBGC 21-16 09h 17m 27.179s13 41h 59m 50.20s13
  • 2 (Tully)
  • 2/3/3 (Giuricin)
 NGC 279813 0.00580131 8731 NGC 2798 Group, NOGG H 385, NOGG P1 395, NOGG P2 40513
NBGC 21-17 09h 23m 14.210s13 40h 09m 52.75s13
  • 3 (Tully)
  • 2/3/2 (Giuricin)
 NGC 284413 0.00493732 7932 NGC 2852 Group, NOGG H 389, NOGG P1 401, NOGG P2 41013
NBGC 21-18 09h 12m 35.3s33 34h 59m 06s33
  • 5 (Tully)
  • 3 (Garcia)
  • 4/4/3 (Giuricin)
 NGC 277013 0.00700033 10433 RSCG 30,34 NGC 2778 Group,1213 LGG 171,12 NGC 2770 Group, NOGG H 381, NOGG P1 391, NOGG P2 40113
See also

See also

References

References

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