Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Virgo (Vir)  ·  Contains:  IC 3303  ·  IC 3344  ·  IC 3349  ·  IC 3355  ·  IC 3363  ·  IC 3388  ·  IC 3393  ·  IC 3443  ·  IC 3457  ·  IC 3459  ·  IC 3475  ·  M 84  ·  M 86  ·  M 87  ·  NGC 4374  ·  NGC 4387  ·  NGC 4388  ·  NGC 4402  ·  NGC 4406  ·  NGC 4407  ·  NGC 4413  ·  NGC 4425  ·  NGC 4431  ·  NGC 4435  ·  NGC 4436  ·  NGC 4438  ·  NGC 4440  ·  NGC 4458  ·  NGC 4461  ·  NGC 4473  ·  And 5 more.
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Virgo Cluster core - M87 and Markarian's Chain, Paul Ricker
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Virgo Cluster core - M87 and Markarian's Chain

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Virgo Cluster core - M87 and Markarian's Chain, Paul Ricker
Powered byPixInsight

Virgo Cluster core - M87 and Markarian's Chain

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The center of the Virgo Cluster. In the lower left is M87, the massive brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) of the cluster. This galaxy is 2-10 times more massive than the Milky Way depending on where you put the cutoff between it and the surrounding cluster. At its center is the 6.5 billion solar mass black hole imaged last year by the Event Horizon Telescope. (Much better resolution than a 60mm telescope!) There are galaxies all over the image. In the upper right is most of Markarian's chain, including the two large ellipticals M84 and M86 and the two interacting galaxies known as Markarian's Eyes. Nearby there are a couple of edge-on spiral galaxies, NGC 4388 and NGC 4402, as well as numerous smaller galaxies. I selected and slightly blurred the stars to overcome a weird "iron cross" point spread function I seem to get with the 60 mm refractor when it is cold.

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Virgo Cluster core - M87 and Markarian's Chain, Paul Ricker