A remarkable chain of galaxies in the Virgo Cluster of Galaxies, a cluster of several thousand galaxies 60 million light years away in the direction of the constellation Virgo.
Markarian's Chain is a chain of galaxies extending from M86 and M84 (the two brightest elliptical galaxies in the upper left corner of this image) down to the bottom of the image. M87 is the bright galaxy in the center right of this image.
The "chain" contains a dozen or so galaxies. Note the different kinds of galaxies visible in this image. Most are elliptical galaxies (circles to ovals with no definition or arms) and spiral galaxies, with a few "irregular" galaxies. This image contains dozens of galaxies that are identifiable. If each has an average of 100 billion stars, the image depicts several trillion stars.
Markarian's Chain of Galaxies
Date Taken:April 20, 2007
Location Taken: Conditions of Location:FWHM 1.4
Equipment Used:Takahashi Sky90 3.5" apochromat refractor telescope with field flattener, SBIG ST-10XME CCD camera, Astrodon RGB filters.
Processing Used:14 x 5 minutes luminance, and 5x200 sec RGB, guided, processed in Maxim DL and Photoshop
Distance from Location:70 million light years
Constellation:Virgo (the "virgin")
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