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 LE
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. The bright members of the chain are visible through small telescopes. Larger telescopes can be used to view the fainter galaxies. Near the center 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.
Information Credits:
WikipediaTelescope: Meade 6000 80mm APO Refractor f/6.0 (480mm Focal Length)
Meade X0.8 Reducer f/4.8 (385mm Focal Length)
Mount IOptron CEM40
Camera ZWOASI6200MC-Pro Temp -10C, Binning 1 x 1, Gain 100 Offset 50
ZWO EFW
61 X 180 Second Exposures W/Optolong L-Pro Filter
38 X 300 Second Exposures W/Optolong L-Pro Filter
50 Dark Frames
Total Integration Time: Hours Minutes
Acquisition with SharpCap
Stacked with Astro Pixel Processor
Stacked with Deep Sky Stacker
Guiding PHD2
Processed with Astra Image/GIMP
Photo taken from Seven Lakes, NC Bortle 4.5
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