The Markarian Chain - Messier 84 & Messier 86

The constellation Virgo is absolutely brimming with galaxies and perhaps one of the finest examples is the Markarian Chain pictured above.  Each nonpoint source of light is, in fact, a galaxy.  Named for the Armenian astronomer Benjamin Markarian who discovered they share a common motion (at least 7 appear to move together), this stunning chain of galaxies forms a beautiful curve through the night sky.  Messier 84 and 86 anchor the lower right portion of the chain.  M84 is the galaxy in the lower right corner and the next one up the curve is M86.  

Photo Details

May 6-7, 2016

Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount

SBIG STF-8300C Camera

Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector

Skyglow filter

69 subframes at 3 minutes/frame

Total Exposure Time = 3 hours 27 minutes
Image Acquisition in CCDOps
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop