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Markarian's Chain - M84, M86, NGC 4387, NGC 5388, NGC 4402, NGC 4425, NGC 4435, NGC 443, NGC 4458, NGC 4461, NGC 4473, NGC 4479, NGC 4477, NGC4474, NGC 4459
Constellation: Virgo

M84
Magnitude: 10.1
Distance: Aprox: 60 million light-years

M86
Magnitude: 9.8
Distance: Aprox: 52 million light-years

Markarian’s Chain was named after Benjamin E. Markarian, an Armenian astrophysicist who was the first to discover that the galaxies share a common motion through space. At least seven Markarian galaxies appear to move coherently, while others are merely superposed in the same line of sight.

The galaxies NGC 4435 and NGC 4438 in Virgo constellation form a well-known interacting pair known as the Eyes Galaxies. The galaxies’ interaction brought the pair within 16,000 light years of each other in the past and the gravitational forces of the encounter ripped away material, dust and gas from each of the galaxies. The galaxies were nicknamed the Eyes because they look like a pair of eyes in small telescopes.

Taken 2/19/18 in Chiefland Florida by Russell Kille on a CPC 1100 with Hyperstar @ F2 and ZWO ASI294MC Pro camera

Click for full image without lables.