Markarians_Chain_OSC_NLStr_Full resolution_6248x4176
This is Markarian's Chain, a stretch of galaxies found in the constellation of Virgo, which viewed from Earth lie along a smoothly curved line. Charles Messier first discovered the two brightest of the galaxies, M84 and M86, in 1781.
Just to the left of centre can be seen a pair of interacting galaxies, NGC 4438 and NGC 4435, which about 50 million light-years away, and sometimes referred to as ‘Markarian's Eyes’.
Markarian’s chain lies in a galaxy rich region of the sky known as the Virgo cluster, which may contain up to 2000 galaxies. If you are looking at this via a monitor then try clicking on the link to the full resolution image below, its amazing how many galaxies can be seen.
Markarians_Chain_OSC_NLStr_Full resolution_6248x4176
This is Markarian's Chain, a stretch of galaxies found in the constellation of Virgo, which viewed from Earth lie along a smoothly curved line. Charles Messier first discovered the two brightest of the galaxies, M84 and M86, in 1781.
Just to the left of centre can be seen a pair of interacting galaxies, NGC 4438 and NGC 4435, which about 50 million light-years away, and sometimes referred to as ‘Markarian's Eyes’.
Markarian’s chain lies in a galaxy rich region of the sky known as the Virgo cluster, which may contain up to 2000 galaxies. If you are looking at this via a monitor then try clicking on the link to the full resolution image below, its amazing how many galaxies can be seen.