View allAll Photos Tagged MarkariansChain
Object: Markarian’s Chain – 2022
Markarian's Chain is a grouping of galaxies that forms part of the Virgo Cluster. When viewed from Earth, the galaxies lie along a smoothly curved line. At least seven galaxies in the chain appear to move in concert, although others appear to be positioned by chance.
Near the center of the chain appears the pair of interacting galaxies NGC 4438 and NGC 4435, about 50 million light-years away, known to some as Markarian's Eyes or simply "The Eyes".
Details:
- Acquisition Date: 4/29/2022 – 5/01/2022
- Location: Western Massachusetts
- Camera: QHY600M-PH @ -10°C w/CFW2-7
- Telescope: Astro-TECH AT130 with APM Riccardi APO Flattener 1.0x
- Mount: Astro-Physics AP1100 w/GTO4
- Guide scope: Celestron Off Axis Guider
- Guide Camera: ASI174m mini
Filters:
Astrodon Gen II E Filters
Luminance: 30 x 300 sec (150 min)
Red: 27 x 300 sec (135 min)
Green: 15 x 300 sec (75 min)
Blue: 27 x 300 sec (135 min)
Total Exposure: 495 min. (8.25hr)
Processed in Pixinsight 1.8.9 and Adobe PS5
Object: Markarian’s Chain – 2022
Markarian's Chain is a grouping of galaxies that forms part of the Virgo Cluster. When viewed from Earth, the galaxies lie along a smoothly curved line. At least seven galaxies in the chain appear to move in concert, although others appear to be positioned by chance.
Near the center of the chain of there appear the pair of interacting galaxies NGC 4438 and NGC 4435, about 50 million light-years away, known to some as Markarian's Eyes or simply The Eyes
Details:
- Acquisition Date: 4/29/2022 – 5/01/2022
- Location: Western Massachusetts
- Camera: QHY600M-PH @ -10°C w/CFW2-7
- Telescope: Astro-TECH AT130 with APM Riccardi APO Flattener 1.0x
- Mount: Astro-Physics AP1100 w/GTO4
- Guide scope: Celestron Off Axis Guider
- Guide Camera: ASI174m mini
Filters:
Astrodon Gen II E Filters
Luminance: 30 x 300 sec (150 min)
Red: 27 x 300 sec (135 min)
Green: 15 x 300 sec (75 min)
Blue: 27 x 300 sec (135 min)
Total Exposure: 495 min. (8.25hr)
Processed in Pixinsight 1.8.9 and Adobe PS5
Markarian's Chain is a stretch of galaxies that forms part of the larger Virgo Custer in the constellation of Virgo. The two bright galaxies on the lower section of the chain are M84 and M86 discovered by Charles Messier in 1781. In this field of view approximately 30 identified galaxies are visible making it a spectacular target to image.
A combination of 10 nights imaging in January and February 2022 and May 2023 using two different cameras. 2022 images were taken using a mono camera and 4 filters, 2023 images were taken using a colour camera and a single filter.
Imaging and processing details can be found on my Astrobin page at: astrob.in/full/zy1fpo/0/
Thank you for looking.
Technical summary:
Captured: 7,8,29,30,31 Jan 2022, 1,2,3 Feb 2022 and 13,14 May 2023
Imaging Sessions: 10
Location: Gérgal, Andalucía, Spain 2022 and Gorafe, Granada, Spain 2023
Bortle Class: 4 Gergal, 3 Gorafe
Total Integration: 23 hours 10 minutes
Blue 116x 120s 3hr 52m BIN 1 Gain 100 -5C
Blue 4x 300s 20m BIN 1 Gain 100 -5C
Green 123x 120s 4hr 6m BIN 1 Gain 100 -5C
Green 11x 300s 55m BIN 1 Gain 100 -5C
Red 149x 120s 4hr 58m BIN 1 Gain 100 -5C
Red 8x 300s 40m BIN 1 Gain 100 -5C
UV/IR 142x 120s 4hr 44m BIN 1 Gain 100 -5C
UV/IR 3x 300s 15m BIN1 Gain 100 -5C
Moon & Skyglow: 40x 300s 3hr 20m BIN 1 -5C
Pixel Scale: 2 arcsec/pixel
Telescope: William Optics GT 81 385mm
Imaging Cameras: ZWO ASI6200MM Pro and ZWO ASI2600MC Pro
Guiding: ZWO UniGuide 50mm - ZWO ASI120MM-S
Filters: ZWO R, G, B, UV/IR and Baader Moon & Skyglow
Mount: Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro
Capture Computer: Eagle 4
Capture software: NINA, PHD2
Editing software: PixInsight, Adobe Lightroom
Imaging telescope or lens: Takahashi FSQ 106EDXIII
Imaging camera: QSI 683WSG-8 OAG QSI 683
Mount: Paramount-ME
Guiding camera: QSI 683WSG-8 OAG QSI 683
Software: Pixinsight 1.8
Filters: Astrodon Luminance, Astrodon Blue, Astrodon Red, Astrodon Green
Resolution: 3284x2355
Dates: Dec. 30, 2016
Frames:
Astrodon Blue: 9x900" bin 1x1
Astrodon Green: 9x900" bin 1x1
Astrodon Luminance: 18x900" bin 1x1
Astrodon Red: 9x900" bin 1x1
Integration: 11.2 hours
A quick look at Markarian's Chain in the Virgo cluster. Galaxy season is on its way.
Lots of galaxies here have tried not to over-process in order not to lose any of the small fuzzies.
Happy new year to you all.
I chose this name as the definition relates to regions beyond our earth/celestial and heavenly and it also happens to be the soundtrack that was used in the video I created (music by Stelladrone) see here on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MKCZJYChmE
Captured using a QHY600 60 Megapixel Full Frame Monochrome CMOS camera mounted on the Takahashi 130 FSQ that we have the honor of beta testing for QHYCCD.
This setup is available immediately for people wanting to subscribe to Grand Mesa Observatory's system 1.
grandmesaobservatory.com/equipment-rentals.
Some of the objects visible include NGC4438-NGC4435 are known as The Eyes Galaxies and are among the most prominently featured Galaxies in this image lying at a distance of around 52 Million Light Years from us. 3 galaxies from the messier catalogue M87, M86 and M84, 52 galaxies from the NGC-IC catalogues, but you have to zoom in to see the over 600 distant galaxies from the PGC catalogue.
View in High Resolution
Astrobin: www.astrobin.com/m3s2ui/
Captured bin 2x2 over 2 nights in April 2021 for a total acquisition time of 14 hours.
Technical Details
Captured and processed by: Terry Hancock
Location: GrandMesaObservatory.com Purdy Mesa, Colorado
Dates of Capture April 3rd and 8th 2021
LUM 216 min 108 x 120 sec
RED 210 min 105 x 120 sec
GREEN 218 min 109 x 120 sec
BLUE 198 min 99 x 120 sec
Filters by Chroma
Camera: QHY600 Monochrome CMOS Photographic version
Gain 60, Offset 76 in Read Mode Photographic 16 bit, bin 2x2
Calibrated with Dark, Bias and Flat Frames
Optics: Walter Holloway's Takahashi FSQ 130 APO Refractor @ F5
Mount: Paramount ME
Image Scale:2.39 arcsec/pix
Image Scale: 2x2 = 2.38 arcsec/pix
Field of View: 3d 7' 41.0" x 2d 3' 5.3 (127.3 x 190.1 arcmin)
Image Acquisition software Maxim DL6, Pre Processing in Pixinsight and Post Processing in Photoshop CC
This is an uncropped field of view of Markarian's Chain of Galaxies in Virgo. Imaged robotically using the GMO System 1 scope in Colorado.
The constellation of Virgo looks out towards a large cluster of galaxies. PixInsight has annotated all the Messier catalogue and NGC/IC catalogue galaxies in field in this image but there are a further 636 small galaxies in the background in the PGC catalogue which would just overwhelm the image so I omitted them.
There are 3 Messier objects in field, the elliptical galaxies M84, M86 and M87.
There are 52 NGC/IC catalogue objects.
The smallest PGC galaxies appear as non-stellar smudges, smears and lines.
Image processed in PixInsight.
Astrometry:
Resolution ............... 2.395 arcsec/px
Focal distance ........... 323.82 mm
Pixel size ............... 3.76 um
Field of view ............ 3d 11' 7.4" x 2d 7' 29.7"
Image center ............. RA: 12 27 38.660 Dec: +13 04 29.85
System 1 Scope:
Camera: QHY600M 16-Bit CMOS, Binned x2
Optics: Takahashi FSQ130
Aperture: 130mm
Focal Length: 650mm
Focal Ratio: F5
Guiding: Stellarvue 50mm
Benjamin Markarian who died on 29 September 1985 was an Armenian astrophysicist who gave his name to Markarian's Chain of galaxies in the Virgo Cluster after he discovered that this string of galaxies moves with a common motion. The Virgo Cluster is the nearest cluster of galaxies and contains over 2000 galaxies. It has a noticeable gravitational pull on the galaxies of our own Local Group of Galaxies which surround our Milky Way. The centre of the Virgo Cluster is located about 70 million light-years away toward the constellation of Virgo.
This image shows part of Markarian's Chain and is marked by the Messier galaxies M84 and M86 to the right and the interacting pair of galaxies NGC 4438 and NGC 4435, known as The Eyes or ARP 120, in the centre of the image. There are many small, faint galaxies in this image.
The image comprises 20 luminance and eight each of RGB subs, all of five minutes exposure.
Telescope: APM 107mm triplet
Camera: QSI 583 plus Astrodon filters
Mount: EQ6 Pro
Processing: Deep Sky Stacker; Pixinsight, Photoshop
Location: Cambridge UK
Markarian's Chain taken with a TEC140 telescope on an Avalon mount with an ATIK 11000 camera. Exposed for 385 minutes during one night in the South of France. Credit to Olly Penrice for capturing and editing (See www.sunstarfrance.com).
Located in the constellation Virgo and part of the Virgo Cluster, Markarian’s chain is a stretch of galaxies that forms part of the Virgo Cluster.
Markarian’s Chain is a string of galaxies located towards the center of the Virgo Galaxy Cluster. Markarian’s Chain contains at least 7 different galaxy members that appear to move coherently: notably 2 huge, bright lenticular galaxies known as M84 and M86. There are actually hundreds of galaxies here, and of course lots of planets. Many of these are bigger than our own Milkyway Galaxy. These galaxies are 50-70 million light-years away from us. Just the M87 galaxy, (part of this chain) has several TRILLION stars within it. Even though they are that far away, they still have a gravitational effect on our Milkyway Galaxy, of course, then on us....but wait, there's more!
M87 has a supermassive black hole, whose mass is billions of times that of the Earth's Sun.
This photos has about 24 hours of combined exposure of LRGB filters. Esprit 120, QHY268M, SkyWatcher EQ6R mount.
A deep field attempt at capturing Markarian's Chain and surrounding Ha gas.
More than 92 hours of exposure in Ha, Lum and RGB did not reveal as much data as I expected but very happy with the deep field view of all the background galaxies in this fascinating group.
Imaged over three months in April, May and June 2025 at Los Coloraos, Gorafe, Spain. Unfortunately the weather was not kind and many of the frames were discarded due to clouds.
Markarian's Chain is a stunning string of galaxies located within the larger Virgo Cluster. From our perspective on Earth, these galaxies appear to form a gently curving line across the night sky, creating a beautiful cosmic alignment. It was named after Armenian astrophysicist Benjamin Markarian, who in the 1960s discovered their shared motion through space.
This "chain" is not just a visual coincidence; many of the galaxies are gravitationally interacting, influencing each other's shapes and movements. Notable members include the famous Messier galaxies M84 and M86, along with the "Eyes Galaxies" (NGC 4435 and NGC 4438), which show clear signs of a past close encounter.
Markarian's Chain offers a fascinating glimpse into galaxy evolution and interactions within a dense cluster environment. It's a popular target for amateur astronomers, showcasing a variety of galaxy types, from elliptical to spiral, all bound together in a grand cosmic dance.
High resolution download and more information, visit AstroBin:
Taken from my home in Gérgal, Almería, Spain over 8 nights in January and February 2022.
A wide field view of the Virgo Cluster located in the constellation of Virgo and Coma Berenices. It is estimated that there are at least 1,300 galaxies in this region and possibly as many as 2,000.
On the left of the image is a curved chain of galaxies known as Markarian's Chain which contains near the centre, two interacting galaxies, NGC 4438 and NGC 4438 known as Markarian's Eyes.
This was a project that I added at the end of my nebula imaging sessions due to the Milky Way being very low in the sky in the winter months and I needed a target that was higher in the sky early in the morning. My wide field telescope is not suited to imaging many galaxies so I decided to image a cluster of galaxies instead.
A string of galaxies in the Virgo constellation.
The short straight line (upper centre) is the trail of asteroid 194 Prokne.
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NGC 4473 (top), then NGC 4458 and NGC 4461, then NGC 4435 and NGC 4438, then M85 and M84.
M87 is lower left.
Three Messier objects in one image!
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Image exposure: 171 Minutes
Image Size: 1.94º x 1.32º
Image date: 2023-04-27
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Markarian's Chain is a stretch of galaxies that forms part of the Virgo Cluster. When viewed from Earth, the galaxies lie along a smoothly curved line. Charles Messier first discovered two of the galaxies, M84 and M86, in 1781. The other galaxies seen in the chain were discovered by William Herschel and are now known primarily by their catalog numbers in John Louis Emil Dreyer's New General Catalogue, published in 1888. It was ultimately named after the Armenian astrophysicist, Benjamin Markarian, who discovered their common motion in the early 1960s. Member galaxies include M84 (NGC 4374), M86 (NGC 4406), NGC 4477, NGC 4473, NGC 4461, NGC 4458, NGC 4438 and NGC 4435.
At least seven galaxies in the chain appear to move coherently, although others appear to be superposed by chance. Six of the points on the chain can be marked by galaxies. The other two points are pairs of galaxies.
At the center, there’s a beautiful yet peculiar pair of galaxies nicknamed The Eyes. The larger of these, NGC 4438, was once a spiral galaxy but has become badly deformed by collisions with other galaxies in the last few hundred million years.
The Eyes are about 50 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo (The Virgin) and are some 100 000 light-years apart. The nickname comes from the apparent similarity between the cores of this pair of galaxies — two white ovals that resemble a pair of eyes glowing in the dark when seen in a moderate-sized telescope.
But although the centres of these two galaxies look similar, their outskirts could not be more different. The galaxy in the lower right, known as NGC 4435, is compact and seems to be almost devoid of gas and dust. In contrast, in the large galaxy in the upper left (NGC 4438) a lane of obscuring dust is visible just below its nucleus, young stars can be seen left of its centre, and gas extends at least up to the edges of the image.
The contents of NGC 4438 have been stripped out by a violent process: a collision with another galaxy. This clash has distorted the galaxy’s spiral shape, much as could happen to the Milky Way when it collides with its neighbouring galaxy Andromeda in three or four billion years.
NGC 4435 could be the culprit. Some astronomers believe that the damage caused to NGC 4438 resulted from an approach between the two galaxies to within about 16 000 light-years that happened some 100 million years ago. But while the larger galaxy was damaged, the smaller one was significantly more affected by the collision. Gravitational tides from this clash are probably responsible for ripping away the contents of NGC 4438, and for reducing NGC 4435’s mass and removing most of its gas and dust.
Another possibility is that the giant elliptical galaxy Messier 86, further away from The Eyes and not visible in this image, was responsible for the damage caused to NGC 4438. Recent observations have found filaments of ionised hydrogen gas connecting the two large galaxies, indicating that they may have collided in the past.
The elliptical galaxy Messier 86 and The Eyes belong to the Virgo Cluster, a very rich grouping of galaxies. In such close quarters, galaxy collisions are fairly frequent, so perhaps NGC 4438 suffered from encounters with both NGC 4435 and Messier 86.
Source: eso.org
This object has been captured using a QHY600 60 Megapixel Full Frame Monochrome CMOS camera mounted on a Takahashi 130 FSQ. Data acquired by Terry Hancock from Grand Mesa Observatory.
RA: 12h 27m 37.232s
DEC: +13° 0’4 15.229“
Size: 3.19 x 2.12 deg
Orientation: Up is 179 degrees E of N
Location: Virgo
Number of galaxies: 8
Acquisition April 2021
Total acquisition time of 14 hours.
Technical Details
Data acquisition: Terry HANCOCK
Processing: Nicolas ROLLAND
Location: The Grand Mesa Observatory, Whitewater, CO
L 108 x 120 sec BIN2
R 105 x 120 sec BIN2
G 109 x 120 sec BIN2
B 99 x 120 sec BIN2
Optics: Takahashi 130 FSQ @ F5
Mount: Paramount ME
CCD: QHY600M CMOS
Pre Processing: CCDstack & Pixinsight
Post Processing: Photoshop CC
The last time I imaged Markarian's Chain was back in 2016 with my modified DSLR and was well over due for a revisit. After what seemed like months of cloudy nights I managed to image 3 objects over 4 nights. This is the last of object I took, the others are Leo Triplets and finishing of the Christmas Tree Nebula.
OBJECT DESCRIPTIONS:-
Markarian's Chain of galaxies forms part of the Virgo Cluster. This image contains numerous Galaxies arranged in a curve. These include:-
M84 (NGC 4374), M86 (NGC 4406), NGC 4477, NGC 4473, NGC 4461, NGC 4458, NGC 4438 and NGC 4435.
The last pair of interacting Galaxies are also known as the Eyes Galaxies. These Galaxies are between 50 & 60 Million Light years away.
EQUIPMENT:-
Explore Scientific 102mm F7 APO Carbon
Focal Reducer: Explore Scientific 0.7
Mount: AZ-EQ6 GT
ZWO ASI1600mm-Cool cmos camera
Orion Mini Auto Guide
ZWO L,R,G,B Filters
Chip Temp Cooled to -15 degC
IMAGING DETAILS:-
Markarian's Chain (Virgo Cluster)
Gain 139 (Unit Gain)
50 Lum subs@120sec (1h 40min)
30 Red subs@120sec (1h)
30 Green subs@120sec (1h)
30 Blue subs@120sec (1h)
Total imaging Time 4h 40min
Dithering
20 Darks
20 Flats
PROCESSING/GUIDING SOFTWARE:-
N.I.N.A
PHD2
DSS
GraXpert AI
StarNet++
Siril
Affinity photo 2
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...
The light captured in this image, was emitted around the time that the Dinosaurs became extinct on Earth.
A wide-field mosaic of a section of Markarian's Chain, a chain of Galaxies that forms part of the Virgo Supercluster (a cluster of a several thousand Galaxies, 60 million light-years away in the direction of the constellation Virgo). When viewed from Earth, the Galaxies lie along a curved line.
The Virgo Supercluster (Virgo SC) or the Local Supercluster (LSC or LS) is a mass concentration of Galaxies containing the Virgo Cluster and Local Group, which in turn contains the Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxies. At least 100 Galaxy groups and clusters are located within its diameter of 33 megaparsecs (110 million light-years). The Virgo SC is one of about 10 million superclusters in the Observable Universe and is in the Pisces–Cetus Supercluster Complex, a Galaxy Filament.
A few quotes:
"There is an odd mannequin shape that is presented by the distribution of galaxies. This work has been done mainly by Margaret Geller with her collaborator John Huchra at Harvard University and the Smithsonian Institution. It's a little like soap bubbles in a bathtub or dishwashing detergent. The galaxies are on the surfaces of the bubbles. The insides of the bubbles seem to have no galaxies in them at all." - Carl Sagan - Cosmos - The Edge of Forever (S01E10).
The size and age of the cosmos are beyond ordinary human understanding. Lost somewhere between immensity and eternity is our tiny planetary home, the Earth." - Carl Sagan - Cosmos - The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean (S01E01).
About this image:
Imaged in LRGB over several sessions in July 2019 from the Southern Hemisphere.
Image Acquisition & Plate Solving:
SGP Mosaic and Framing Wizard.
PlaneWave PlateSolve 2 via SGP.
Integration time:
18 hours.
Processing:
Pre-Processing and Linear workflow in PixInsight,
and finished in Photoshop.
Astrometry Info:
Center RA, Dec: 187.055, 12.888
Center RA, hms: 12h 28m 13.184s
Center Dec, dms: +12° 53' 17.123"
Size: 3.26 x 2.5 deg
Radius: 2.054 deg
Pixel scale: 7.33 arcsec/pixel
Orientation: Up is 88.3 degrees E of N
View an Annotated Sky Chart of this image.
View this image in the WorldWideTelescope.
&creditsUrl=&ra=187.536744&dec=12.032357&x=1214.0&y=370.9&rotation=91.70&thumb=http://nova.astrometry.net/image/7121763){kind=link}
Flickr Explore:
Also see:
Photo usage and Copyright:
Medium-resolution photograph licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Terms (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). For High-resolution Royalty Free (RF) licensing, contact me via my site: Contact.
Martin
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This is a wide-field framing of the heart of the Coma-Virgo cluster of galaxies in the northern spring sky, with galaxies galore in the frame, including a dozen Messier objects.
The field is 7.5° by 5°, so similar to binoculars. The faintest galaxies here are about 12th magnitude.
Just below the centre is the Marakarian's Chain of galaxies including the Messier galaxies M84 and M86. The giant elliptical M87 (famous for having its central black hole imaged) is below and to the left of the Chain. There are many other Messier objects in the field — At top right around the blue star 6 Comae is the trio of M98 (at the far edge), M99 (below and right of 6 Comae) and M100 (at top). At left are M88, M91, M90 amd M89. At bottom left is M58 and M59. M60 just squeaks onto the frame.
This is a stack of 10 x 6 minute exposures with the SharpStar 61 EDPH II refractor at f/4.5 and the Canon EOS Ra at ISO 100. This is a single framing, not a mosaic. Taken from home April 24, 2022. Haze moving in spoiled exposures taken after this set. Dithered with MGEN3 autoguider; no darks applied.
Not quite sure why I started doing this, these luminosity frames are a nightmare to seam. Vignetting, gradients argh!! Doesn't help that the moon was about.
Stay tuned, its an on-going project.
Michael L Hyde (c) 2015
Markarian's Chain is a string-like group of galaxies that forms part of the Virgo Cluster, located about 70 million light-years from Earth. It is called a "chain" because, when observed from Earth, the cluster appears arranged along a gently curved line. It is named after Armenian astrophysicist Benjamin Markarian, who discovered their shared motion in the early 1960s. The region includes multiple galaxies, mainly elliptical ones, among which the NGC 4435-4438 pair—nicknamed “The Eyes of Virgo”—stands out. The names of the main visible galaxies are shown in the outer frames.
The image was taken from Casalgrande, in the Po Valley—one of the most light-polluted areas in Europe—and required about 8 hours of exposure time.
Technical data
Lens: Nikon Nikkor 400mm f/2.8 (stopped down to f/4)
Imaging/guiding camera: ZWO ASI 2600 MC Duo
Mount: ZWO AM5N
Filter: IDAS LPS D2
Exposures: 230 x 120 seconds
Messier 84 or M84, also known as NGC 4374 is a member of a dynamic pairing with M86. A round giant elliptical galaxy some 80,000 light-years wide, M84 shines across 55 million light-years of space. It resides in the Virgo Cluster of galaxies, the nearest of the large extragalactic populations. M84 is visually part of Markarian’s Chain, a string of eight galaxies that form a 1.5°-long line that shines like flying paper lanterns at the core of the Virgo Cluster. Armenian astrophysicist Benjamin Markarian discovered this feature in the 1960s, noting that these galaxies share a common motion through space. However, later observations have shown that M84 is not a dynamical member of the chain, as its motion does not jive with the rest.
Messier 86 (also known as M86 or NGC 4406) is a 9th-magnitude elliptical/lenticular galaxy at the core of the Virgo Cluster, lying only 17′ from M84. Messier discovered it together with M84, saying the two “nebulae” had the same appearance. On the surface, they do. With its smooth-looking face, M86, like M84, gets gradually fainter the further you look away from the core. And at a glance, M86 may appear only slightly larger than M84 through a small telescope. But this is an illusion created by the galaxy’s lower surface brightness. M86 is, in fact, twice the apparent diameter of M84 and is slightly more elliptical. M86’s 400 billion stars span a whopping 135,000 light-years.
Reference: www.astronomy.com/astronomy-for-beginners/101-must-see-co...
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED Telescope, ZWO ASI2600MC camera running at 0F, 81x60 seconds guided exposures, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro pier mounted, ZWO EAF and ASIAir Pro, processed in DSS and PixInsight. Image Date: May 26, 2023. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
Markarian's Chain is a stretch of galaxies that forms part of the Virgo Cluster. When viewed from Earth, the galaxies lie along a smoothly curved line. Charles Messier first discovered two of the galaxies, M84 and M86, in 1781. The other galaxies seen in the chain were discovered by William Herschel and are now known primarily by their catalog numbers in John Louis Emil Dreyer's New General Catalog, published in 1888. It was ultimately named after the Armenian astrophysicist, Benjamin Markarian, who discovered their common motion in the early 1960s. Member galaxies include M84 (NGC 4374), M86 (NGC 4406), NGC 4477, NGC 4473, NGC 4461, NGC 4458, NGC 4438 and NGC 4435. (ref: Wikipedia)
Tech Specs: William Optics REDCAT 51 Telescope, ZWO ASI071MC camera running at -10F, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro mount, ZWO EAF (ProAstroGear Black-CAT) and ASIAir Pro, guided using a ZWO 30mm f/4 mini guide scope and ZWO 120 mini, processed in PixInsight. Image Date: April 23, 2025. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
A part of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies, between the constellations of Virgo and Leo.
Featuring Markarian's Chain, a bunch of Messier objects, and very near three dozen galaxies visible galaxies in all.
202 x 40s + 77 x 35s
ISO1600
Olympus Pen-F Digital
Askar FMA180
Tracked using a Sky Watcher Star Adventurer Mini
Shot from my balcony in the Plateau neighbourhood of Montreal.
Here is a composite view of a line of galaxies often referred to as Markarian’s Chain. Wikipedia state that the chain is named after Armenian astrophysicist Benjamin Markarian who discovered their common motion in the early 1960’s. The chain is dominated by galaxies M84 and M86 (the brightest galaxies at the top of the image). This is a two image composite. If you are viewing this on our Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/thedarksideobservatory/) or our Blog (LeisurelyScientist.com) we also have a labelled version.
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120mm ED Triplet APO Refractor, Celestron CGEM-DX mount, Canon 6D stock camera, ISO 3200, 54 x 60 second exposures with dark/bias frames, guided using a ZWO ASI290MC and Orion 60mm guide scope. Image date: 18 March 2018. Location: The Dark Side Observatory in Weatherly, PA.
Markarians Chain, M84 (NGC 4374), M86 (NGC 4406), NGC 4477, NGC 4473, NGC 4461, NGC 4458, NGC 4438 and NGC 4435
3,2h RGB only.
Equipment used: Canon EOS RP with Sigma 150-600 Contemporary on a iOptron Skyguider.
Hi Folks,
This is the second imaging project from my new Whispering Skies Observatory.
This image of Markarian's Chain resulted from 4.6 hours of LRGB integration on my Askar FRA400 Platform.
This cluster of galaxies is 50-60 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo. Most are gravitationally bound, moving as a group, and in some cases are interacting (note the distortion of the two galaxies in the center - often referred to as the "Eyes")
I thought I had about 7-8 hours of integration but thin clouds to the south came through, and I ended up with only 4.6 hours of useful data. It sure hurts to have to remove so many subs!
Complete details for this project, including a detailed processing walkthrough, can be found here:
cosgrovescosmos.com/projects/markarians-chain-4-22-25
I am not a huge fan of Galaxy Clusters, as I find they are often just a collection of very tiny galaxies with little structure or color. But this time of year, there are many of those targets in the sky, so I decided to shoot three different clusters, this being one of the more famous ones.
Clear Skies,
Pat
Description: Going from bottom right to top left along a curve in this image of the Markarian's Chain in the Virgo Cluster are M84, M86, NGC 4438, NGC 4435, NGC 4461, NGC 4473 and NGC 4477. The magnification inset shows the "Markarian's Eyes" NGC 4438 and NGC 4435.
Date / Location: 13-14 April 2023 / Washington D.C.
Equipment:
Scope: WO Zenith Star 81mm f/6.9 with WO 6AIII Flattener/Focal Reducer x0.8
OSC Camera: ZWO ASI 2600 MC Pro at 100 Gain and 50 Offset
Mount: iOptron GEM28-EC
Guider: ZWO Off-Axis Guider
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI 174mm mini
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Light Pollution Filter: Chroma LoGlow Broadband
Processing Software: Pixinsight
Processing Steps:
Preprocessing: I preprocessed 37x300s subs (= 3.1 hours) in Pixinsight to get an integrated image using the following processes: Image Calibration > Cosmetic Correction > Subframe Selector > Debayer > Select Reference Star and Star Align > Image Integration.
Linear Postprocessing: Dynamic Background Extractor (both subtraction to remove light pollution gradients and division for flat field corrections) > Background Neutralization > Color Calibration > Noise Xterminator.
Nonlinear Postprocessing: Histogram Transformation > Local Histogram Equalization.
With NASA’s recent release of the James Webb Telescopes new Infrared Deep Field Image ,I felt inspired to edit a series of photos I took back in in early March in my backyard but never published. Shown here is my Image of “Markarian’s Chain”.
Markarian’s Chain is a string of eight Galaxy’s located in the Virgo Cluster. It was named after Armenian astrophysicist Benjamin E. Markarian, who discovered their common motion. When viewed here on earth, the Galaxies M84, M86, NGC4477, NGC 4473, NGC4461, NGC 4458 form a curved line. The M84 and M86, both elliptical galaxies, shown at the bottom of the photo are 55 and 52 million lightyears away from Earth!
Annotated in red in my photo is the galaxies that makeup the chain. Overall Markarian’s Chain is part of the Virgo cluster that is made up of over 2000 galaxies! Some of the other galaxies that are apart of the Virgo cluster are marked in blue.
M87, which is not included in the chain, but lies nearby is pictured in the upper left-center of my photo. M87 is another supergiant elliptical galaxy that sits 53 million light years from Earth. M87 also has a supermassive blackhole at the center, in fact it was the first black hole to be imaged.
Markarian’s Chain is best viewed in spring time and is a perfect way to spend galaxy season exploring. Now that we are in July I’m focusing on many of the Milky Way’s nebula, but I look forward to capturing more signal of Markarian’s Chain next spring.
Image Capture Details:
Camera: ZWO ASI2600 MC Pro
Telescope: TS Optics CF APO 90mm F6 w/ 1.0x Field flattener
Guide Scope: TS Optics 50mm Guide Scope
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI 120mm guide camera
Mount: Skywatcher EQ6R Pro
50x300” Lights (4.16 total hours of Integration).
Calibration frames (flats, darks, bias, dark flats).
Thanks for looking! Be sure to check out my Youtube channel (youtube.com/Astrophotobooth) as I will be making more videos in the near future!
Markarian's Chain is a group of galaxies in the constellation of Virgo, the galaxies when viewed from earth are in a curved line hence the name Markarian's Chain, they obtained the name from Benjamin Markarian who dicovered the common motion of the galaxies back in the early 1960s, there are quite a number of galaxies within the group, but the chain itself consists of M84, M86, NGC4477, NGC4473, NGC4461, NGC4458, NGC4438 and NGC4435 which are all visible in this image.
This image is a 2-Panel Mosaic, as the QHY183M on the SharpStar 15028HNT doe snot give me enough of a field of view to capture it in a single frame
Each Panel consists of
51x150S in Red Filter
51x150S in Green Filter
51x150S in Blue Filter
Darks, Flats and Flat Darks were applied in the image stacking process
Total Capture time: 12.8 Hours, total Image Size 34.9mpx
Acquisition Dates: March 3, 2020 , March 17, 2020 , March 23, 2020 , March 24, 2020 , March 27, 2020 , March 28, 2020 , April 12, 2020 , April 15, 2020 , April 16, 2020
Equipment Details:
Imaging Camera: Qhyccd 183M Mono ColdMOS Camera at -20C
Imaging Scope: SharpStar 15028HNT Hyperboloid Astrograph
Guide Camera: StarlightXpress Lodestar X2
Guide Scope: Sky-Watcher Finder Scope
Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ8 Pro
Focuser: Primalucelab ROBO Focuser
FIlterwheel: Starlight Xpress Ltd 7x36mm EFW
Filters: Astronomik Red, Green and Blue
Power and USB Control: Pegasus Astro USB Ultimate Hub Pro
Acquisition Software: Main Sequence Software. Sequence Generator Pro
Calibration and Stacking: Astro Pixel Processor
Mosaic Panel Merging: Image Composite Editor
Processing Software: PixInsight 1.8.6
A wealth of galaxies in this view centred on elliptical galaxy M86
from L to R, Arp 120, M86 and M84 form the lower right hand section of Markarian's chain, a visual string of galaxies - my field of view was too small (49 arcmins) to include them all.
Going around the clock:
At 1200 is spiral galaxy NGC 4402
At 0330 is elliptical galaxy M84
At 0400 is elliptical galaxy NGC 4387
At 0530 is spiral galaxy NGC 4388
At 0630 is barred spiral galaxy NGC 4413
At 0800 is spiral galaxy NGC 4425
At 1130 near the very top is a small irregular galaxy IC 3355
At 1100 are "the Eyes" a pair of interacting galaxies (NGC 4435 and NGC 4438)(Arp 120). Gravitational interaction has distorted one of the pair.
38 x 5 minute exposures. Dithered and drizzled.
Takahashi 150mm refractor
SBIG ST-4000XCM One Shot Color CCD camera
Mount: Paramount GTS
Field of view 49 x 49 arcminutes
Post-processing in PixInsight and Photoshop CC.
This frames the rich collection of galaxies at the heart of the Virgo supercluster of galaxies in the northern spring sky, including 3 Messier galaxies. The field lies on the border of Coma Berenices and Virgo.
At right is the pair of elliptical galaxies Messier 86 (on the left) and Messier 84 (on the right). Below them is the edge-on galaxy NGC 4388. At lower left is the giant elliptical galaxy Messier 87, famous for its massive central black hole. At centre is the pair of galaxies called The Eyes, NGC 4438 and NGC 4435. They are part of an arc of galaxies called Markarian's Chain.
The field of view is 2.5º by 1.6º so this is one of the richest regions of sky for bright galaxies, one near the North Galactic Pole. The faintest galaxies here from the IC catalogue are about 15th magnitude.
Technical:
This is a stack of 16 x 6 minute exposures with the Askar APO120 refractor at f/7 with its 1x Flattener and Canon R5 at ISO 1600. On the Astro-Physics AP400 mount and Lacerta MGEN3 autoguider. Taken from home on a fine April night in 2025. While I have shot this field several times before, this is the most focal length and highest resolution camera I have used for the field.
A mostly dark frame with some faint fuzzy dots, flanked by a copy of the same with some incomprehensible labels? This is far from beeing the most beautiful image I ever published, but it easily qualifies as the most interesting! However, it certainly needs quite some explanation:
The image shows a section of sky (roughly 8.5° x 6.5°) in the border area of the constellations Leo, Virgo and Coma Berenices that is home to the northern part of the famous Virgo Galaxy Cluster. This cluster harbors roughly 1300 galaxies and forms the heart of the larger Virgo Supercluster, of which our Milky Way is an outlying member.
Just right of and below the center of the image is Markarian's Chain, a stretch of galaxies that is called a chain because, when viewed from Earth, the galaxies lie along a smoothly curved line. It is named after the Armenian astrophysicist, B. E. Markarian, who discovered their common motion in the early 1960s.
Markarian's Chain was my primary target for this image. As I was running late that evening, I decided not to set up my telescope, but to shoot with my 200mm lens from a tripod equipped with a simple iOptron SkyTracker. Not the most impressive setup and, considering that I was imaging from my light polluted backyard (#5 on the Bortle scale) with a too short focal length, I was not expecting much of a result.
After setting up, I just let the camera shoot away and went for my well-deserved nights rest. The next day, after sorting out the frames with clouds, aircraft or satellite trails, I ended up with 290 shots of 30s each, summing up to 2h25min of usable data. After stacking and processing these frames, I got the above image.
First, I was happy that my primary target was visible at all, but then I started to notice many small galaxies in the image. I therefore started to scrutinize the image systematically. You can see the result in the copy on the right side, where I was able to identify more than 150 galaxies (yellow labels).
Now I was truly impressed. I remembered the Hubble Deep Filed (HDF), showing thousands of galaxies in the early universe and started to think of my image as my personal deep field (PDF)…LOL
The imaged galaxies are roughly 50-60 million lightyears away from earth. While this is a huge distance (it means the light my camera caught was emitted just after the dinosaurs were extinct), it still is a rather small distance on the cosmological scale of the Hubble Deep field.
I started wondering if there are more distant objects in my image. After a dedicated search, I really found some exotic and much more distant objects (red labels). The most distant of them is a quasar named Q1227+120. It has a measured redshift of z=2.458. You can translate this into a cosmological distance of mindboggling 19.2 billion lightyears! The light of this quasar was emitted 11.1 billion years ago. That’s 4/5th of the time that has elapsed since the big bang!
Of course, you can find many images of similar objects taken with giant, professional telescopes. But when I realized that I had imaged an object that almost lies “at the edge of the universe” from a tripod in my backyard, with a simple DSLR camera and a 200mm lens, I was absolutely flabbergasted!
A word of caution:
Even in giant telescopes, these quasars (Quasi Stellar Objects) are just tiny, star-like dots of light. In my image, they are at the very limit of discernibility and you will have to download and open the image in full resolution to see them. But they are there – trust me!
Acknowledgement:
My star charts and planetarium programs were unable to go deep enough for the data of the image.
For my "research" I had to get access to professional quality data and found these in the "Aladin sky atlas" developed at CDS, Strasbourg Observatory, France → 2000A&AS..143...33B and 2014ASPC..485..277B.
Aladin is a free interactive sky atlas, allowing the user to visualize digitized astronomical images or full surveys, superimpose entries from astronomical catalogues or databases, and interactively access related data and information from the Simbad database, the VizieR service and other archives for all known astronomical objects in the field. It was developed for professional astronomers, but it is also a great toy for the interested amateur.
Aberkenfig, South Wales
Lat +51.542 Long -3.593
Skywatcher 254mm Newtonian Reflector, Nikon D780 at prime focus with Skywatcher Coma Corrector, EQ6 Syntrek Mount.
Imaging session:
00:01 UT to 00:46 UT
45 x 20s @ ISO 2500
18 dark frames, 18 flats, 18 dark flats & 30 bias
Processed with Deep Sky Stacker and levels adjusted with Lightroom & G.I.M.P. Annotations added using G.I.M.P. layers tool.
Not easy to capture from my location as the the light pollution to the south seems to be getting worse. I would have liked to increase the exposure times but the sky is just not dark enough here.
The camera was set at full frame (FX) and the image has been cropped in final processing.
Best viewed using the expansion arrows
This is a busy part of the Virgo galaxy cluster, including Markarian's Chain and the giant eliptical galaxy M87. Our local group of galaxies is a part of this structure. If you look closely at almost any region in here, you will see tiny fuzzballs - all of which are galaxies. It is enough to make the mind wander and wonder. Does anyone still think this universe is all about us?
Aberkenfig, South Wales
Lat +51.542 Long -3.593
Skywatcher 254mm Newtonian Reflector, Nikon D780 at prime focus with Skywatcher Coma Corrector, EQ6 Syntrek Mount.
Imaging session:
00:01 UT to 00:46 UT
45 x 20s @ ISO 2500
18 dark frames, 18 flats, 18 dark flats & 30 bias
Processed with Deep Sky Stacker and levels adjusted with Lightroom & G.I.M.P.
Not easy to capture from my location as the the light pollution to the south seems to be getting worse. I would have liked to increase the exposure times but the sky is just not dark enough here.
The camera was set at full frame (FX) and the image has been cropped in final processing.
Best viewed using the expansion arrows
Markarian's Chain , Sony α6600 , Askar FMA 180mm f/4.5 , Vixen POLARIE U , Kenko STARRY NIGHT Filter , MGEN-3 , GITZO GT2541(改)
よく晴れている、月は沈んだ、風はない、極軸もしっかり合わせた、忘れ物もない。
でも、、、AutoGuideの具合が悪い(-_-)
ガイドグラフを見ていたので乱れていることは分かってはいたが、星像が流れている結果が多かったです。
1時間30分ほど撮影したのですが選んでみると半分しか使えませんでした。
<撮影データ>
ISO3200
120秒 x 21カット
総露出時間 2,520秒
<処理ソフト>
Capture One 23
Stella Image 9
Photoshop 2021
This is the eastern part of the Markarian's Chain. It is a part of the Virgo Cluster. Shot with an EOS 550D mounted to a Skywatcher 150/750 telescope. Exposure was around 34 minutes with ISO 800.
This extent contains eleven Messier objects (M 58, 84, 86-91, 98-100) and many other galaxies. Markarian's Chain is the string of galaxies in the center. My favorite is the Coma Pinwheel Galaxy (M 99) in the center of the upper right quadrant, with its interesting coma shape.
Acquisition details: Fujifilm X-T10, Samyang 135mm f/2.0 ED UMC @ f2.0, ISO 1600, 102 x 30 sec, tracking with iOptron SkyTracker Pro, stacking with DeepSkyStacker, editing with Astro Pixel Processor and GIMP, taken on Feb. 27, 2020 under Bortle 3/4 skies.
This is a shot of the central region of the Virgo galaxy cluster. All of the individual stars in this image belong to our own Milky Way galaxy but all of the larger, more 'fuzzy', objects are entire galaxies far beyond made up of their own collections of billions of stars. (The larger/closer galaxies in the image are around 54 million light years away.)
There are approximately 244 galaxies in this image (around 10 hours of total exposure). Many of the smaller galaxies are 'background' galaxies and not associated with the Virgo cluster. Most of the galaxies in this image are also of a type known as 'elliptical'. Unlike spiral galaxies, they usually lack structure and can be anything from perfectly spherical to somewhat flattened.
Just before the Event Horizon Telescope started its imaging run on the supermassive black hole at the center of M87, I was imaging the same region of the sky with my Celestron Edge HD 925. The galaxy in question, M87, is in the lower left corner of this image. It is the closest Brightest Cluster Galaxy (BCG) to us, and it shows a relativistic jet when you take enough data to capture that feature.
The other galaxies that cross the top part of this picture are known as Markarian's Chain -- all of the prominent galaxies in this picture are part of the Virgo Cluster. M87 and the rest of the Virgo Cluster galaxies are about 55 million light years away. At that distance, if there was a civilization looking back at Earth, the image they would currently get is of a planet whose biosphere had just rebounded from the Chicxulub impact. However, any such image is exceedingly unlikely. On the full size scale of this image (1684x2408 pixels), the supermassive black hole would be 16 millionths of a pixel in size. That black hole is roughly 3 million times the diameter of the Earth. Using a radio telescope the size of the Earth, we were just able to resolve the black hole.
This image is a mosaic of 4 separate tiles. Each of those is a stack of 4 minute exposures. Images were shot with an Edge HD 925 at f/2.3 with Hyperstar and an Atik 314L+ color CCD. Preprocessing was done in Nebulosity. The stacking, initial processing, and mosaic composition was done in PixInsight. Final processing was done in PixInsight and PS CS 5.1.
The image center (J2000) is at:
RA 12h 29m 9s
DEC +13° 0' 17"
The image spans 1° 10' by 1° 40'.
There are 14 galaxies with NGC designations, and about 100 galaxies in total visible in the picture.
Markarian's Chain is a stretch of galaxies that forms part of the Virgo Cluster. It is called a chain because, when viewed from Earth, the galaxies lie along a smoothly curved line. It was named after the Armenian astrophysicist, B. E. Markarian, who discovered their common motion in the early 1960s. Member galaxies include M84 (NGC 4374), M86 (NGC 4406), NGC 4477, NGC 4473, NGC 4461, NGC 4458, NGC 4438 and NGC 4435. (Wikipedia)
LRGB Image 1/2/15 and 21/2/15
14x900s L bin 1x1, 3x600s R,G,B bin 2x2
5 Hours total integration
Equipment:
T: Takahashi FSQ106ED
C: QSI683ws Mono CCD, Astronomik LRGB Filters
M: Celestron Advanced Vx
G: QHY5-II
Acquisition and Processing:
PHD2, Sequence Generator Pro, CCDStack, Photoshop CS6
My first attempt to capture a galaxy cluster.
Captured in Armenia, Dilijan city. January 27, 2023, 1:58-4:22 UTC+4. 1250 m above sea level. Balcony, local light pollution.
Photo made with
Canon EOS 7D Mark II camera,
Samyang 1:2.0 135mm ED UMC lens (fully open),
Fornax Lightrack 2 tracker.
Settings:
ISO 1600, exposure 40 s.
180 frames (120 minutes total exposure) + 40 flats
Stacking and Procession in SIRIL. Postprocession in Raw Therapee.
This is a framing of the richest region of the Coma-Virgo Supercluster of galaxies in the northern spring sky. The field of view is 5º by 3.3º and contains 10 galaxies from the Messier Catalogue: M58, M59, M60, M84, M86, M87, M88, M89, M90 and M91. The arc at top with the pairing of M84 and M86 is Markarian's Chain.
This version has labels for the Messier galaxies and a couple of the pairs of NGC galaxies.
Technical:
This is a stack of 25 x 3-minute exposures with the Askar SQA85 astrographic refractor at f/4.8 and the Canon R5 at ISO 800. On the Astro-Physics AP400 mount autoguided with the MGEN3 guider. Taken from home April 17, 2025. North is toward upper left here, as I rotated the field by about 40º to best frame the most galaxies.
Markarian's Chain , Sony Alpha 7m3 , Askar FMA 180mm f/4.5 , Vixen POLARIE U , Kenko STARRY NIGHT Filter , GITZO GT2541(改)
いつもただの星の写真に見えてしまうのが悔しいので、2時間の露出に挑戦してみました。
う〜ん、結果としては微妙、、、
露出時間も大切なんでしょうが、画像処理が下手すぎるんでしょうね。
<撮影データ>
ISO3200
90秒 x 82カット
総露出時間 7,380秒
<処理ソフト>
Capture One 22
Stella Image 9
Photoshop 2021
Col nome Catena di Markarian si intende una striscia di galassie al confine tra la Vergine e la Chioma di Berenice. La catena di galassie occupa più di un grado intero ed è visibile con un riflettore da 8 pollici in una notte limpida e buia.
È chiamata “catena” per il fatto che, osservata dalla Terra, l'ammasso si dispone lungo una linea vagamente incurvata mentre il nome “Markarian” è riferito all'astrofisico armeno Benjamin Markarian che scoprì il loro moto comune nei primi anni 60. Almeno sette galassie di Markarian sembrano muoversi in modo coerente, mentre altre sono semplicemente sovrapposte lungo la stessa linea di vista.
L'ammasso include, tra le varie galassie, M84 (NGC 4374), M86 (NGC 4406), NGC 4477, NGC 4473, NGC 4461, NGC 4458, NGC 4438 e NGC 4435.
Le prime galassie della Catena di Markarian ad essere scoperte furono le luminose e grandi, ma anonime galassie ellittiche o lenticolari Messier 84 e Messier 86 nella Vergine, catalogate per la prima volta da Charles Messier nel 1781.
Le galassie NGC 4435 e NGC 4438 nella costellazione della Vergine formano una nota coppia interagente nota come Galassie Occhi . L'interazione tra le galassie le ha portate a una distanza di 16.000 anni luce l'una dall'altra in passato e le forze gravitazionali dell'incontro hanno strappato materiale, polvere e gas da ciascuna delle galassie. Le galassie sono state soprannominate Occhi perché sembrano un paio di occhi in piccoli telescopi.
NGC 4461 è un membro lenticolare dell'Ammasso della Vergine , catalogato anche come NGC 4443. La galassia si trova nella costellazione della Vergine e ha una magnitudine apparente di 11,0. Fu scoperta da William Herschel nell'aprile del 1784 e poi trovata indipendentemente da Lord Rosse nell'aprile del 1849, il che portò alla sua doppia inclusione nel Nuovo Catalogo Generale. NGC 4461 ha una dimensione apparente di 3,4 per 1,4 minuti d'arco.
NGC 4458 è una galassia ellittica nella Vergine , a circa 55 milioni di anni luce dalla Terra. Scoperta anch'essa da William Herschel nell'aprile del 1784, la galassia ha una magnitudine visuale di 11,8 e una dimensione apparente di 1,4 per 1,2 minuti d'arco.
NGC 4477 è una galassia lenticolare barrata di Seyfert-2, situata a circa 49 milioni di anni luce dalla Terra, nella costellazione della Chioma di Berenice . La galassia ha una magnitudine visuale di 10,4. La sua barra più lunga si estende per 67.000 anni luce, mentre la più corta per 60.000 anni luce. NGC 4477 fu scoperta da William Herschel l'8 aprile 1784.
NGC 4473 è una galassia ellittica di magnitudine apparente 11,16, situata a una distanza di 50 milioni di anni luce nella Chioma di Berenice . La galassia fu scoperta da William Herschel la stessa notte della vicina NGC 4477.
NGC 4459, un'altra galassia lenticolare nella Chioma di Berenice , è visibile al vertice della catena galattica. Situata a 49 milioni di anni luce dalla Terra, la galassia ha una magnitudine apparente di 10,4. Occupa un'area di 3,8' per 2,8'. Fu scoperta da William Herschel nel 1784.
Numerose altre galassie sono visibili nello stesso campo visivo. Nota per il suo nucleo luminoso, NGC 4388 è una galassia a spirale attiva a 65,1 milioni di anni luce di distanza nella costellazione della Vergine . Ha una magnitudine apparente di 11,02 ed è una delle galassie più luminose in questa regione del cielo. La galassia occupa un'area di 6,2' per 1,674'.
La vicina NGC 4387 è una galassia ellittica di magnitudine 12 che occupa un'area di 1,7' per 1,1' nella costellazione della Vergine . Con una magnitudine apparente di 12,7, la galassia è leggermente più debole di NGC 4388. Fu scoperta da William Herschel il 17 aprile 1784.
La galassia a spirale barrata NGC 4413 nella Vergine ha una magnitudine di 11,9 e, con un diametro lineare di 35.000 anni luce, occupa 2,3' per 1,4' di cielo apparente. La galassia fu scoperta da William Herschel il 17 aprile 1784.
Scoperta lo stesso giorno, NGC 4425 è una galassia lenticolare di magnitudine apparente 11,8, situata nella costellazione della Vergine . Le sue dimensioni apparenti sono di 2,8' per 1'.
NGC 4402 è un'altra galassia a spirale nella Vergine , vista di taglio. Situata a una distanza di 48,38 milioni di anni luce, la galassia ha un diametro di circa 55.000 anni luce. Ha una magnitudine apparente di 12,55 e dimensioni apparenti di 2,967' per 0,593'. Una supernova, denominata SN 1976B, è stata scoperta nella galassia nel 1976.
NGC 4479 è una galassia lenticolare nella Chioma di Berenice . William Herschel la scoprì l'8 aprile 1784. La galassia ha una dimensione apparente di 1,6' per 1,3' e una magnitudine apparente di 12,5.
Dati di scatto:
Questa immagine è il risultato dell’integrazione di 84 frames da 180 secondi, per un totale di 4 ore e 12 minuti ripresi a -10°C con filtro L-Pro
Telescopio newton GSO 154/600, Camera di ripresa ASI 294 MC Pro
Telescopio guida 60/240, Camera ASI 120 mini
Montatura Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro Synscan
Acquisizione Asiair Pro, Elaborazione in RGB con Pixinsight.
www.gaeeb.org/2025/04/29/catena-di-markarian-2/
Testo tratto da www.messier-objects.com/markarians-chain/