Markarian's Chain Astrophotography - A Chain of Galaxies in Virgo
Markarian’s Chain is a stretch of more than eight galaxies located in the heart of the famous Virgo Cluster. Astrophysicist Benjamin Markarian named it after discovering that at least seven of them appeared to be moving coherently. The chain contains several Messier objects, like M84 and M86.
Object Designation: Markarian's Chain
Notable Galaxies: M84, M86, NGC 4435, NGC 4438, among others
Constellation: Virgo
Object Type: Galaxy Chain (part of the Virgo Cluster)
Distance: 50–60 million light-years away
Magnitude: Varied, with M84 and M86 around magnitude 9
Discovered by: Benjamin Markarian in the 1960s (though individual galaxies were discovered earlier)
Markarian's Chain is an exciting target for amateur astrophotographers, as it gives you many bright galaxies in a single photo! We captured this target several times, by ourselves and in a collaboration with the Deep Sky Collective. Read this post to see our pictures and more information on this target.
Markarian's Chain Astrophotography Collaboration: 461 Hours
June-October 2024
In June of 2024, we started contributing to a new project with the Deep Sky Collective: Markarian's Chain!
We've worked with the Deep Sky Collective several times in the past, and love collaborate with to reach crazy high integration times on various deep sky objects. Some of the images we've collaborated on are for example 255 hours on M51, 1000+ hours on the Andromeda Galaxy, 566 hours on M106, and more.
For our part of the data, we spent a total of 105.5 hours shooting this target using two different telescopes (64 hours with the RASA and color camera, and 40.5 hours with the SVX130 and monochrome camera). Out of the 105.5 hours, about 88 hours were kept and stacked with the files from the other members.
The full details about this image can be found on the official DSC's Astrobin page, which we encourage you to check out!
GEAR USED (for our part of the data):
Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC + QHY600M
Telescope: Celestron RASA 8 + Stellarvue SVX130
Mount: 10Micron GM1000/2000 HPS
Accessories: Celestron Focuser / PrimaLuceLab Eagle 5S
ACQUISITION DETAILS:
Total Exposure Time: 64 hours with RASA | 40.5 hours with SVX130
Exposure Time per frame: 600 seconds
Markarian's Chain Astrophotography with a Beginner Reflector Telescope
April 2020
Shortly after imaging the Iris Nebula from a Bortle 2 zone in California, I decided to once again make the 2-hour drive to enjoy the clear dark sky of the Mojave National Preserve.
I made the decision to image a part of the sky that Dalia and I always wanted to capture but never had the chance: Markarian's Chain.
One thing I really wanted to do is to also include Messier 87 in the frame.
This is no easy feat as it is pretty far from the actual chain of galaxies. It's impossible to frame the galaxy and the chain together with our ASI 1600MM camera, we were able to get it just right using our first full-frame camera, the QHY 128C.
We did have to crop out a significant portion of the image (you can see what the single shots looked like later in this post) but we are glad we could end up with the chain and M87 together in one frame.
Here is our image of Markarian's Chain, 4 hours in total taken from a Bortle 2 zone. You can see M87 in the bottom left corner.
Markarian's Chain and M87 using the QHY128C
GEAR USED:
Camera: QHY128C
Telescope: 8" Astrograph f/3.9
Guiding: N/A (unguided)
Processing: Pixinsight
ACQUISITION DETAILS:
Total Exposure Time: 4 hours
Exposure Time per frame: 3 minutes
Filters: None
Gain: 3200
How to Find Markarian's Chain
The brightest members of Markarian’s Chain can be seen through binoculars and small telescopes, but you will need a higher-power telescope to be able to see the fainter galaxies.
The Virgo cluster is one of the best sights seen with binoculars in the night sky during Spring. From a dark site, you will be able to not only see the members of the chain but also some bright galaxies around, like Messier 87!
Markarian’s Chain can be found on the outer edge of the Virgo constellation, it lies right between the stars Denebola, in Leo, and Vindemiatrix, in Virgo. Draw an imaginary line between those two bright stars and at the center is your target!
Cool Facts
Named after Armenian astrophysicist Benjamin Markarian
Stretches over a distance of 20 full moons
Contains several Messier Objects
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Markarian's Chain Information
Let's learn a bit more about what Markarian's Chain is!
Markarian's Chain Discovery
Markarian's Chain was named after Armenian astrophysicist Benjamin Markarian, who discovered the interesting alignment of the galaxies in the 1960s. Though individual galaxies in the Virgo Cluster had been observed long before, Markarian was the first to note that a string of them appeared to move together across the sky, forming a distinctive chain-like structure.
Benjamin Markarian was an Armenian astrophysicist who made important contributions to the study of active galaxies and star formation.
He also helped identify a class of galaxies now known as Markarian galaxies, which are known for their strong ultraviolet emissions.
Messier 86
Messier 86 is one of the brightest galaxies in Markarian's Chain and a major member of the Virgo Cluster. It is an elliptical or lenticular galaxy 52 million light-years from Earth.
M86 has one of the highest blue-shifts (240 km per second) of any Messier object, meaning that it is moving toward the Milky Way.
As you can see on the picture, a bright and impressive "HA bridge" is visible between M86 and NGC 4438!
Messier 89
Messier 89 is an elliptical galaxy with a nearly perfect spherical shape. It lies about 50 million light-years away and is visible here with a huge halo!
M89’s has a vast halo of gas and dust that suggests it may have lost material through galactic winds or tidal interactions with nearby galaxies. Scientists also believe that M89 is surrounded by many globular clusters.
Messier 90
Messier 90 is found 60 million light-years away and is one of the largest and brightest spiral galaxies in the Virgo Cluster. M90 is one of the few galaxies in the Virgo Cluster moving away from us. Researchers aren't sure if this means it is leaving the cluster or if it is showing complex gravitational interactions causing an unusual motion.
Like M86, M90 shows a lot of Hydrogen Alpha gas which is visible on this picture. Be sure to read the full text on the Astrobin page to learn more.
Processing of Markarian's Chain
2020 version
Markarian's Chain was not easy to process. Some galaxies are very bright while others are super dim! You also have a random mix of spiral and elliptical galaxies so you really need to be careful when enhancing the detail (using HDR Multiscale Transformation for example) or you might introduce some weird shapes on the elliptical objects. I believe I went a little too crazy on that and I know that a couple of them look a little bit off.
On top of that, we still haven't figured out our back focus issue, and the edges look terrible. This is why we had no choice but to crop out as much of the edges as possible while still trying to keep M87 in there and Markarian's Chain centered. We WILL make sure to fix this issue before our next imaging session.
Below you can see both a Single 3-minute shot of Markarian's Chain and what the results of 4 hours of data look like when stacked before processing. Use the arrow to compare the two!
The most famous part of Markarian's Chain is the pair of galaxies NGC 4435 and NGC 4438, often nicknamed "Markarian's Eyes" or simply "The Eyes".
We really wanted to reveal as much detail in these two galaxies as possible. Both are spiral galaxies and so do not look like big blurry balls of light like most other objects in the chain.
We'd love to one day revisit these two worlds with a very large telescope!
Process your images exactly the way we do with our PixInsight Processing Guide.
Markarian's Chain FAQ
In which constellation is Markarian's Chain located?
You can find Markarian's Chain in the constellation Virgo. It is part of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies.
How big is Markarian's Chain?
Markarian's Chain is not a single galaxy but an alignment of several galaxies. The two most prominent galaxies, M84 and M86, span diameters of about 120,000 and 130,000 light-years respectively.
How far is Markarian's Chain?
Markarian's Chain is located approximately 50 to 60 million light-years away from Earth.
Should I use a filter to image Markarian's Chain?
Markarian's Chain is a good broadband target, meaning no specific filter is required. However, as you can see on the collaboration picture, there is a lot of hidden HA in there if you go deep enough! If you plan on spending a lot of hours imaging this target, then using an HA filter might be worth it for you!
Final Thoughts
Markarian's Chain is a fantastic target for almost any type of instrument and camera. It is large enough to be photographed with small to medium size telescopes, and you can even capture it with just a DSLR camera and a telephoto lens!
Bringing out detail in each of the objects is a little challenging, but the final image will look impressive no matter what. There are also dozens of tiny galaxies all around!
Zoom on M84, M86, and M87 from our 2020 image
We are happy to be able to add the 3 Messier objects above to our own catalog all at once! Want to see how we're doing in our mission to capture all Messier objects? You can keep track of our progress by taking a look at our Gallery tab.
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