North is to the top.

Across the heart of the Virgo Cluster of Galaxies lies a striking string of galaxies known as Markarian's Chain. The chain, pictured above, is highlighted on the upper right with two large but featureless lenticular galaxies, M84 and M86. Prominent to their lower left is a pair of interacting galaxies known as The Eyes. The home Virgo Cluster is the nearest cluster of galaxies, contains over 2000 galaxies, and has a noticeable gravitational pull on the galaxies of the Local Group of Galaxies surrounding our Milky Way Galaxy. The center of the Virgo Cluster is located about 70 million light years away toward the constellation of Virgo. At least seven galaxies in the chain appear to move coherently, although others appear to be superposed by chance.

Source: NASA APOD

Taken from 2/7/2013 to 3/14/2013 Chino Valley, AZ

Takahashi FSQ-106ED w/ an SBIG STF-8300M camera using Baader LRGB filters.

Exposure Details:

Lum 430 min.

Red 161 min.

Green 193 min.

Blue 230 min.

For more info...

bf-astro.com/markariansChain/markariansChain.htm

Markarian's Chain

FDK250/QHY600M/Crux 200

Added another 67 subs to this last night, so this is now 3 hrs 14 mins of 60 second subs (193 in total - never done so many!) Took a little more care over the processing as well - some star colour in there if you look closely - but not too close ;) There are at least 19 galaxies visible in this image - and a lot more that aren't :)

I think this is about as far as this one goes.

200p/EQ5 unguided

Nikon D70 modded, iso1600, Baader Neodymium Filter

193 x 60 seconds

Darks, flats and bias

Stacked and processed in DSS and CS5

A portion of Markarian's chain, a stretch of galaxies that forms part of the Virgo Cluster. The Virgo Cluster comprises of approximately 1300 (and possibly up to 2000) member galaxies and its centre is approximately 53.8 million light years away. It forms the heart of the larger Virgo Supercluster, of which the Local Group (containing our Milky Way galaxy) is a member. In this image, there are at least 21 galaxies. I did make an annotated version but the annotation distracts from the beauty of all those galaxies but left to right they are: NGC 4473, IC 3420, NGC 4463, NGC 4458, IC 3393, IC 3388, IC 3386, NGC 4438, NGC 4435, NGC 4425, IC 3363, IC 3355, IC 3349, NGC 4403, NGC 4406 (M86), IC 3333, NGC 4402, NGC 4388, NGC 4387, IC 3303, NGC 3474 (M84).

015 x 300 second exposures at Unity Gain (139) cooled to -20°C

050 x dark frames

020 x flat frames

100 x bias frames (subtracted from flat frames)

Binning 1x1

Total integration time = 1 hour and 15 minutes

Captured with APT

Guided with PHD2

Processed in Nebulosity and Photoshop

Equipment:

Telescope: Sky-Watcher Explorer-150PDS

Mount: Skywatcher EQ5

Guide Scope: Orion 50mm Mini

Guiding Camera: ZWO ASI120MC

Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI1600MC Pro

Baader Mark-III MPCC Coma Corrector

Light pollution filter

A group of galaxies in Virgo known as Markarian's Chain

Optics: Takahashi FSQ-106N (530mm)

Camera: SBIG STF-8300M

Filters: Astrodon LRGB Gen II

Mount: Astro-Physics 900GTO

Processing: CCDStack 2, Photoshop CS5, PixInsight

Markarian's Chain , Sony α6600 , William Optics RedCat 51 APO 250mm f/4.9 (K-Astec) , Kenko STARRY NIGHT Filter , Unitec SWAT-350 V-spec , K-ASTEC PTP-C22

しし座、かみのけ座、おとめ座付近には銀河群が広がっています。

その中でも有名な銀河群が「マルカリアンの鎖」とも言われるこの地域です。

Part of Markarian's Chain in Virgo

Markarian's Chain , Sony α6600 , William Optics RedCat 51 APO 250mm f/4.9 (K-Astec) , Kenko STARRY NIGHT Filter , Unitec SWAT-350 V-spec , MGEN-3 , K-ASTEC PTP-C22

夜半過ぎには春の星座や星雲・星団が見え始めました。

今回も「マルカリアンの鎖」を撮ってみましたが難しいです。

もう少し銀河のふわぁ〜とした所を表現してみたい。

望遠鏡を向ける方向で多少バランスが狂っていたのでしょうね。

オートガイドが乱れて50カット撮影して9カットがボツ。

<撮影データ>

ISO3200

90秒 x 41カット

総露出時間 3,690秒

<処理ソフト>

Capture One 22

Stella Image 9

Photoshop 2020

Taken by Doug Spalding on April 10, 2011 near Butler, Missouri using an SBIG8300C camera mounted on a CGE1100 Telescope using Hyperstar (F/2). This is the sum of 12 five minute images, stacked using DeepSkyStacker. The image was then processed with Maxim DL and Photoshop CS2.

Guiding used PhD Guiding with an Orion Starshoot autoguider.

Galaxy overload!

Annotated version.

LRGB image of the Markarian's chain of galaxies on the border of Virgo and Coma Berenices.

The image is mirrored left-to-right compared to sky.

Total integration time 15h15m,

L: 185 minutes

R: 269 minutes

G: 226 minutes

B: 234 minutes

with 5, 10 and 20 minute subs.

Telescopes used: WilliamOptics FLT-110 with 0.8x mkIV reducer, TS-Quad 65mm Petzval.

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.

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.

Martin

-

Original image and more info:

www.flickr.com/photos/martin_heigan

器材參數：

APM 140 SD/ 980m - F/7

2.5" 平場鏡

APM 50/205 導星鏡 + QHYIII-290MM

赤道儀 iOptron CEM60

相機 Nikon D800(MOD)@ISO 800

總曝光155分鐘

拍攝日期：2019/03/01~03/02

拍攝者：鴻宇光學 施勇旭

參考網頁：

德國 APM Doublet SD APO 140天文望遠鏡組

This is part of the larger Virgo cluster, and contains giants M84 and M86 (upper center), as well as NGC 4477, NGC 4473, NGC 4461, NGC 4458, NGC 4438 and NGC 4435. The massive galaxy M87 is at lower right. Galaxies 4438 and 4435 just above center are interacting, which causes the irregular shape - these are sometimes known as the eyes galaxies.

Taken with the Canon 50D at ISO 1600 (and some at ISO 800) at 400 mm, f/5.6. About a hour's worth of exposure.

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.

The camera was set at full frame (FX) and the image has been cropped in final processing.

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.

Best viewed using the expansion arrows on a desktop PC

There are at least two dozen galaxies visible in this image.

The group of galaxies stretching from top left to bottom right is known as Markarian's Chain and is part of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies.

The brightest members are M84, M86, NGC 4477, NGC 4473, NGC 4461, NGC 4458, NGC 4438 and NGC 4435.

The bright galaxy in the lower left corner is M87.

A stack of 30x180s exposures using a QHY22 camera on a TS Imaging Star71 - 71mm f/4.9 Imaging APO telescope. Autoguided using OAG and CLS filter.

All calibration and processing done in PixInsight.

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!

Saturday night was nearly a waste of time but I have added the 9 good frames I got to the photo I took in 2014, It's better but not great but at least I salvaged something from an evenings work.

EQUIPMENT:

Telescope Meade 6000 115mm and HEQ5.

Canon EOS 1100D (unmodded).

Orion Mini Auto Guide.

Astronomik CLS CCD Filter

CONDITIONS:

Hum 78%

Temp 9 degC

PHOTO DETAILS:

Markarian's Chain (Virgo Cluster)

NGC4473, NGC4461

NGC4435, NGC4438 (The Eye)

NGC4402, NGC4388

M84, M86 & Others

ISO1600

9subs @180sec (27min)

25 Darks.

20 Flats.

DETAILS OF: 4th APRIL 2014

See Photo MarkariansChain_2014-4-4

40subs @120sec (2h 20min)

C14, Hyperstar, Canon 450D/XSi, BackyardEOS.

30x30 seconds @ ISO 400, 30 darks, 100 bias/offsets, no flats, no guiding.

Processed with PixInsight.

Just a test to check the light pollution toward the North.

LZOS130-780+RIREDM82+NGS1+ASI6200MC on AP Mach-1

EQUIPMENT:

Telescope Meade 6000 115mm and HEQ5.

Canon EOS 1100D.

Orion Mini Auto Guide.

CONDITIONS:

Hum 88%

Temp 6 degC

PHOTO DETAILS:

Markarian's Chain (Virgo Cluster)

NGC4473, NGC4461

NGC4435, NGC4438 (The Eye)

NGC4402, NGC4388

M84, M86 & Others

ISO1600

40 120 Sec Lights.

25 Darks.

10 Flats.

Every little "fuzzy" you see in this image is a galaxy. And there are many more that you can even make out without zooming in. There are perhaps as many as 2,000 galaxies in the Virgo Cluster and the cluster is located around 60 million light-years from Earth.

The curved area of galaxies near the center is known as Markarian's Chain. It is named after the Armenian astrophysicist Benjamin Markarian, who discovered that this string of bright galaxies shares a common motion through space.

Another "dirty" LRGB attempt from Bortle 8-9...

Not yet giving up :)

Total Integration time 3.5h.

LRGB composite of the Markarian's chain in the Virgo cluster. This was shot from a bright sky lit by the full moon and the resulting gradients were a nightmare to remove. It would need a lot more light to properly show the wonderful tidal interactions going on with a few of the galaxies on the chain.

Total integration time L 2h (10min subs), RGB 3h/channel (20 min subs).

Markarian's Chain is a string of galaxies, at the heart of the Virgo Cluster Of Galaxies, that resemble a 'chain' as viewed from Earth. In the orientation of the attached image, the 'chain' appears as a 'slightly right-leaning 'lazy-J' shape', extending from left of center to upper right of center, toward the edge of the frame.

Consisting of 11 brighter galaxies, it includes such famous members as the massive elliptical galaxies M84 and M86 (near the top of the 'J') as well as the gravitationally interacting pair of galaxies NGC 4438 & NGC 4435 (known as 'The Eyes'), at right of center. Although not part of Markarian's chain, two additional fairly bright galaxies are visible below the chain.

At the lower left is the spiral M88 (being 130,000 light-years in diameter, it is about the size of our own Milky-Way galaxy (100,000 ly dia.); while at lower right is the gigantic elliptical galaxy M87. Although also having a similar diameter (i.e. 120,000 ly), being a spheroid rather than a flattened spiral, M87 is one of the largest galaxies known, and contains over 1 trillion stars. Located in the constellation of Virgo, the galaxies in Markarian's chain lie approximately 50 million light-years from Earth.

Note: The attached image was taken during a long, extremely cold night of testing a fairly wide-field optical configuration. Due to exposure to these very low temperatures for such an extended length of time, I believe the objective lens was beginning to ice-over at this point, and that in turn contributed to the monochromatic (i.e. black & white) appearance of this image. As such, we will have to re-shoot this field in the future under better conditions and with longer exposures.

Image Details: Taken by Jay Edwards at the HomCav Observatory in Maine, NY on 02/26/2017 using an Orion ED80T CF Triplet Apochromatic Refractor connected to a 0.8x Televue field flattener & focal reducer, CamRanger, IPad and Canon 700D DSLR; and guided by an Orion StarShoot autoguider connected to a Celestron 80MM short tube refractor, all riding on an Orion SkyView Pro goto mount guided by PHD. The image has been resized down here to HD resolution and the bit depth lowered from 16 to 8 bits per channel to reduce the file size.

Taken with the Full spectrum modified Pentax K10D camera.

Main scope: Stellarvue SV 4 with flattener and Baader Moon and Skyglow filter

Guided by SSAG on SV70ED with Maxim DL

Stack of 13 lights: 10 minutes at 400 ISO

8 Matched Darks

Stacked with DSS 3.3.3 beta 45

Processed in PI with DBE, Masked stretch, Histograms, Curves. Exported to LR 3 for final touches before upload.

Difficult time removing amp noise at the edge of the frame. Tried using cold darks as Bias frames to help control the glow with marginal success.

PI Solve results:

Referentiation Matrix (Gnomonic projection = Matrix * Coords[x,y]):

-0.000282643552 +0.000449922344 -0.037238890805

-0.000450094299 -0.000282864821 +1.243974193080

+0.000000000000 +0.000000000000 +1.000000000000

Resolution ........ 1.913 arcsec/pix

Rotation .......... -57.856 deg

Focal ............. 582.16 mm

Pixel size ........ 5.40 um

Field of view ..... 2d 3' 58.8" x 1d 23' 9.8"

Image center ...... RA: 12 28 33.584 Dec: +13 22 56.34

Image bounds:

top-left ....... RA: 12 28 24.350 Dec: +14 37 33.45

top-right ...... RA: 12 23 53.922 Dec: +12 52 25.06

bottom-left .... RA: 12 33 14.424 Dec: +13 53 08.33

bottom-right ... RA: 12 28 42.724 Dec: +12 08 19.21

Taken with the Full spectrum modified Pentax K10D camera.

Main scope: Stellarvue SV 4 with flattener and Baader Moon and Skyglow filter

Guided by SSAG on SV70ED with Maxim DL

Stack of 13 lights: 10 minutes at 400 ISO

8 Matched Darks

Stacked with DSS 3.3.3 beta 45

Processed in PI with DBE, Masked stretch, Histograms, Curves. Exported to LR 3 for final touches before upload.

Difficult time removing amp noise at the edge of the frame. Tried using cold darks as Bias frames to help control the glow with marginal success.

PI Solve results:

Referentiation Matrix (Gnomonic projection = Matrix * Coords[x,y]):

-0.000565446834 +0.000899947802 -0.037139309845

-0.000900443613 -0.000565847502 +1.243910581901

+0.000000000000 +0.000000000000 +1.000000000000

Resolution ........ 3.827 arcsec/pix

Rotation .......... -57.851 deg

Focal ............. 291.02 mm

Pixel size ........ 5.40 um

Field of view ..... 2d 4' 0.4" x 1d 23' 10.9"

Image center ...... RA: 12 28 33.573 Dec: +13 22 55.78

Image bounds:

top-left ....... RA: 12 28 24.360 Dec: +14 37 34.05

top-right ...... RA: 12 23 53.857 Dec: +12 52 23.88

bottom-left .... RA: 12 33 14.468 Dec: +13 53 08.38

bottom-right ... RA: 12 28 42.691 Dec: +12 08 17.48

60 * 180s

7x420s frames

Astro-Tech AT130EDT apo triplet, 0.8x reducer/flattener (f/5.6)

iOptron iEQ45 Pro mount

Lacerta MGEN-II autoguider with Stellarvue 9x50 guidescope

Processed in PixInsight 1.8

Part of a group known as Markarian's Chain.

Total exposure of 3 hours, using 7 & 8-minute subs taken over 3 nights. ISO 1600, f7.5.

Meade ED 127mm refractor & unmodified EOS 40D.

Images registered and stacked using DeepSkyStacker software.

More about these at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markarian%27s_Chain

.

Exposure was 4200 seconds. CGEM mount.

AZ offset about 1º from pole, this is one way to produce smoother autoguiding.

.

M86 600s CLS _X7 F-D-L a-c-b X.25_DDP 234-54288 half

18 5min subs ISO 800 stacked in DSS then adjusted in PS CS2. Canon 400D(modded) Orion Atlas mount and the scope is a Orion ED80 refractor and it is shot with another 80mm refractor as a guide scope. I think longer subs and better framing when I try again.

An annotated segment of Markarian's Chain which 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.

I'm planning to get some more shots of the chain and stitch them together in order to show it off in all it's glory, so this is just a first panel and a test of exposure and processing settings.

This image is made from 29 x 30 second exposures at 3200 ISO and 18 x 30 second exposures at 6400 ISO plus 19 dark frames, 16 flat frames and 48 bias/offset frames (applied to flat frames only). Total exposure time 23 and a half minutes. Images taken on April 30th 2015. Processing was done in Nebulosity and Photoshop.

Markarian's Chain

Markarian's Chain

FSQ106ED w 1.4x Canon extender

Cooled 6D

10.5min x 16 @ ISO1600

Luminance of Markarian's Chain. Taken with my AT106 scope a while back. Got about 1 hr before the clouds spoiled the night.

Imaging scope: Astro-Tech 106mm Triplet

Imaging Camera: ST8300M (capture with Equinox Image)

Filters: Baader filters in FW5-8300 filter wheel

Guide scope: Orion EON 80mm

Guide camera: Starfish Fishcamp (guided with PHD)

Mount: Atlas EQ-G

Calibrated in Equinox Image and processed in PixInsight.

L - 60min : 12x5min (1x1)

Luminance of Markarian's Chain and M87. This cluster of galaxies is in the Virgo galaxy cluster. This is a first light with my new scope, the AT65EDQ. This scope has a built in field-flattener, giving very nice round stars out to the edge of the field. Only got to shoot about 30 min of luminance before the clouds spoiled the night. There's a lot more in this widefield view that can be seen with more exposure.

Imaging scope: Astro-Tech 65 Quadruplet

Imaging Camera: ST8300M (capture with Equinox Image)

Filters: Baader filters in FW5-8300 filter wheel

Guide scope: Astro-Tech 106mm Triplet

Guide camera: Starfish Fishcamp (guided with PHD)

Mount: Atlas EQ-G

Calibrated in Equinox Image and processed in PixInsight.

L - 30min : 6x5min (1x1)

20 X 3mins, ISO 800, No Darks or Flats. The images were acquired using a Modfied Canon Rebel XT mounted to a W.O. ZS 105. Guiding was done using the Orion SS Autoguider and PHD Guiding Software. The images were taken at the Fox Park Public Observatory. Levels and Curves adjusted in PS2.

I always had a little smile and a chuckle while processing this picture. It's the little things in life that make it fun. It just amazed me how much this group of galaxies looked so much like a face.

The Galactic Face in the Virgo Cluster is approximately 65 million light years away and make up part of the Virgo Cluster or the Markarian's Chain of galaxies, in the constellation, where else, Virgo. This particular photo contains numerous galaxies to create "the face," most notably Messier 86, M86, and Messier 84, M84, comprising the "eyes," NGC 4487, the "nose," NGC 4388, the "mouth," and NGC 4402, the top left "eyebrow."

Taken with the SV90TBV and with the canon 40D

ISO 3200 for 3 mins each frame.

31 light frames and 15 dark frames

Markarian's Chain is a stretch of galaxies that forms part of the Virgo Cluster. It's 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[1]. Member galaxies include M84 (NGC 4374), M86 (NGC 4406), NGC 4477, NGC 4473, NGC 4461, NGC 4458, NGC 4438 and NGC 4435. It's located at RA 12h 27m and Dec +13° 10′.

At least seven galaxies in the chain appear to move coherently, although others appear to be superposed by chance.[2]

NGC:4374 M84 GALXY RA:12h25 DEC:12°53' m:10.1 Markarian's Chain VIR

NGC:4406 M86 GALXY RA:12h26 DEC:12°57' m:9.8 Markarian's Chain VIR

NGC:4435 GALXY RA:12h28 DEC:13°04' m:10.8 Markarian's Chain - The Eyes VIR

NGC:4438 GALXY RA:12h28 DEC:13°00' m:10 Markarian's Chain - The Eyes VIR

NGC:4458 GALXY RA:12h29 DEC:13°14' m:11.8 Markarian's Chain VIR

NGC:4461 GALXY RA:12h29 DEC:13°11' m:11.1 Markarian's Chain VIR

NGC:4473 GALXY RA:12h30 DEC:13°25' m:10.2 Markarian's Chain VIR

NGC:4477 GALXY RA:12h30 DEC:13°38' m:10.4 Markarian's Chain VIR

Orion 203mm f/4.9 + MPCC MK III + EOS 6D + Atlas EQ-G

47 × 30s @ISO 3.200

馬卡萊恩鍊

Markarian's Chain

去年在大雪山拍過了

但天氣不怎麼好

這次再拍一次

到處都是星系

有夠多...

特別用網站解一下

列出來到底有多少...

M58

M90

M89

M91

M88

M87

M86

M84

NGC4579

NGC4569

NGC4552

NGC4548

NGC4501

NGC4486

NGC4477

NGC4473

NGC4461

NGC4459

NGC4438

NGC4406

NGC4388

NGC4374

NGC4371

NGC4313

NGC4302

又臭又長XD

初春寒冷的夜

遙望天上垂著的鎖鏈

另一頭拴住的

是妳溫柔的小手

還是

深陷孤獨的我

Date：2021/2/6

Weather：Clear

Location：Tataka, Nantou, Taiwan

Camera：Nikon D800(mod)

Lens/Telescope：

William Optics ZenitherStar 81+

Flat 6A III

Mount：iOptron CEM40

Guiding：

William Optics Uniguide+ZWO ASI120MM mini+PHD2

Parameter： ISO1600

Exposure time：5min*16

Dark, Flat, Bias

Software：DSS+PS

20 * 600s

FSQ106ED + 645Reducer

Modified Z6

Slow progress on mostly cloudy nights. The dark nights are coming to an end soon, hopefully I get the frames needed to finish this mosaic before the four month summer break without a single minute of astronomical darkness from April 20th to August 23rd.

A segment of Markarian's Chain (without annotation) which 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.

I'm planning to get some more shots of the chain and stitch them together in order to show it off in all it's glory, so this is just a first panel and a test of exposure and processing settings.

This image is made from 29 x 30 second exposures at 3200 ISO and 18 x 30 second exposures at 6400 ISO plus 19 dark frames, 16 flat frames and 48 bias/offset frames (applied to flat frames only). Total exposure time 23 and a half minutes. Images taken on April 30th 2015. Processing was done in Nebulosity and Photoshop.