Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Virgo (Vir)  ·  Contains:  M 84  ·  M 86  ·  M 87  ·  M 88  ·  NGC 4371  ·  NGC 4374  ·  NGC 4388  ·  NGC 4402  ·  NGC 4406  ·  NGC 4425  ·  NGC 4435  ·  NGC 4438  ·  NGC 4452  ·  NGC 4459  ·  NGC 4461  ·  NGC 4473  ·  NGC 4477  ·  NGC 4486  ·  NGC 4501  ·  Virgo Galaxy
Markarian's Chain, Jason Lichter
Markarian's Chain
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Markarian's Chain

Markarian's Chain, Jason Lichter
Markarian's Chain
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Markarian's Chain

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Description

At the heart of the Virgo Cluster of Galaxies lies a remarkable lineup of galaxies called Markarian’s Chain. This image captures the western end of the chain and features the two large, bright lenticular galaxies, M84 and M86. To the upper left is a pair of interacting galaxies known as The Eyes: NGC 4435 (top) and NGC 4438 (bottom). Dozens of smaller, fainter galaxies are also captured in this vista covering an area of the sky about twice the size of a full moon.

The Virgo Cluster contains over 2,000 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.

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Markarian's Chain, Jason Lichter

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Galaxies