Markarian’s Chain – Galaxy Group within the Virgo Galaxy Cluster

Telescope: ES Comet Hunter MN6 at f/4.8, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: Baader modified Nikon 610

Filter: High Point 2” IR Blocking Filter

Guide scope: Williams Optics 50mm, ASI290MM mini, PHD2

Exposure: 35x120sec, Gain 200, saved as RAW

Darks: Internal (Long Exposure Noise Reduction On)

Flats: 32×1/4sec, tee shirt flats taken at dusk

Average Light Pollution: Red zone, Bortle 8, poor transparency

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.3 mag/arc-sec^2

Stacking: Mean with a 2-sigma clip.

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Backyard Nikon, Nebulosity, Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop

Markarian’s Chain is a distinctive arc of galaxies that are within the Virgo Cluster; a cluster that is not made up of a group of stars, but a cluster of galaxies! The elliptical galaxies M84 and M86 are the most prominent members at the lower right with the other members of the Chain sweeping along an arc to the upper left ending in this field with the spiral galaxy NGC 4477. The Virgo galaxy cluster is a fascinating group that you could spend a lifetime exploring. The region is so rich the problem isn’t finding targets, it is telling one galaxy from another!