Markarian’s Chain

Located in the constellation Virgo, this group of galaxies is named after Benjamin Markarian, who identified in the 1960s that this J-shaped chain of galaxies shares a common motion through the universe.

The 2 brightest galaxies in this chain from top to bottom are M84 & M86. These were discovered in 1781 by Charles Messier. M87, also discovered by Messier, is in the bottom right of the image but is not part of the chain.

My Notes: I took this image at the recommendation of my friend from Brett Boller, from the Prairie Astronomy Club. It’s the first deep-sky image I took that wasn’t dedicated to a single Messier Object. I captured it with my Fujifilm X-T4 from midnight to about one a.m. April 16, 2023 using the Fujifilm 150-600 f/5.6-8.0 lens. I was concerned about how it would edit since there are so many galaxies in the full image (see below), but using Topaz Denoise and simple Lightroom adjustments, I was able to blacken the empty space with very minimal changes to the original sharpness of the galaxies.

It was taken at Gracie Creek Cabin near the Calamus Reservoir in Nebraska, so the sky was very dark. Temps were in the low 30s, with average transparency and below average seeing for the sky.

Dozens of galaxies are in this image. 41 frames for 68 total minutes. Dark Median Algorithm ISO-4000 f/56. 150mm (230mm FF equiv.)

Dozens of galaxies are in this image. 41 frames for 68 total minutes. Dark Median Algorithm ISO-4000 f/56. 150mm (230mm FF equiv.)

Every named object in this image. Markarian's Chain is in the middle.

Every named object in this image. Markarian's Chain is in the middle.

This image's location in the sky (My photo needs to be rotated 90 degrees clockwise to match this position)

This image's location in the sky (My photo needs to be rotated 90 degrees clockwise to match this position)