It is a stretch of galaxies that forms part of the Virgo Cluster. When viewed from Earth, the galaxies lie along a smoothly curved line. Member galaxies include M84 (NGC 4374), M86 (NGC 4406), NGC 4477, NGC 4473, NGC 4461, NGC 4458, NGC 4438 and NGC 4435.
M86
(NGC 4406) is an elliptical or lenticular galaxy (bottom left
zoom – bigger object) in the constellation Virgo.
NGC
4402 (bottom
left zoom – smaller object) is a relatively
near, edge-on spiral galaxy located around 50 million light-years
from Earth. It is in the constellation of Virgo within the Virgo
Cluster of galaxies. NGC 4402 is roughly 55 thousand
light-years wide and is moving away from Earth at around 232
kilometers per second. It is falling into the Virgo galaxy cluster.
NGC
4438 (bottom
right zoom) is the most
curious interacting galaxy in the Virgo Cluster, due to the
uncertainty surrounding the energy mechanism that heats the nuclear
source; this energy mechanism may be a starburst region, or a black
hole-powered active galactic nucleus (AGN). Both hypotheses are
currently under investigation by astronomers.
NGC
4388 (upper
left zoom – bigger object) is
an active spiral galaxy located in the Virgo Cluster. NGC 4388 is
also considered to be one of the brightest galaxies in the Virgo
Cluster due to its luminous nucleus.
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markarian%27s_Chain
, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_86
, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_4402
, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyes_Galaxies
, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_4388
Photographs (March 2019) made in Zwardoń. A standard place of meetings of the Polish association of astronomy enthusiasts – Katowice dep.
Equipment: Canon EOS 6D, Sky-Watcher 200/1000 [mm] on the NEQ6 Pro. and Lacerta autoguider.
Stack: APP (6 best frames)
Processing: GIMP v2.10.14 + add-ons (Linux)
Lights: 6 x 118[s], ISO-1600; 30.3.2019
Flats: 1 ISO-1600; 30.3.2019
Bias: 20 ISO-1600; 02.8.2019
