Scale Model Builder August 24, 2026

Bishop Hobbies

Wood & Plastic Models, Astrophotography

Markarian’s Chain

I imaged this on April 18th and is composed of 346 x 30 second images.

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 Louis Emil 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. It is located at RA 12h 27m and Dec +13° 10′.

The bright members of the chain are visible through small telescopes. Larger telescopes can be used to view the fainter galaxies.

At least seven galaxies in the chain appear to move coherently, although others appear to be superposed by chance. Six of the points on the chain can be marked by galaxies. The other two points are pairs of galaxies. Wikipedia

These galaxies lie about 60 million light years away.

Imaging Data:
Image:                   Markarian’s Chain
Date:                     4/18/2021
Exposure:              30s
Number of Lights:  346
Darks:                   No
Flats:                     No
Gain:                    120
Binning:                1×1
Imaging Software:  Sequence Generator Pro
Camera Type:        ZWO ASI294MC Pro
Cooling Temp:       -10 deg C
Filter:                    Astronomik UV/IR
Telescope:             Celestron 1100HD SCT
Mount :                 10MICRON GM1000HPS
Focuser:                MicroTouch Focuser