Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod24x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
APM/TMB 130/780 Refractor Yahoo Digital Astro Group May, 2008 Monthly Challenge WinnerAstroimaging Challenge Yahoo Group Winner March, 2008
Markarian's Chain is a group of galaxies that lies at the heart of the Virgo cluster. Named after the Armenian astronomer who first postulated that the group is an interacting structure, rather than a chance arrangement.In December 1961, a three-page conference report titled "Physical Chain of Galaxies in the Virgo Cluster and It's Dynamic Instability" was published in volume 66 of The Astronomical Journal. The author, B. E. Markarian, used statistical analysis to support his conclusion that a chain of eight galaxies "in the Virgo cluster is not a chance grouping but a real physical system." Markarian's Chain, as it has come to be known, consists of NGC 4374 (M84), NGC 4406 (M86), NGC 4435, NGC 4438, NGC 4458, NGC 4461, NGC 4473 and NGC 4477. This meandering chain of galaxies extends about 1.5 degrees from M84, in Virgo, to NGC 4477, in Coma Berenices.The group is a favorite of visual and imaging astronomers alike.
April 25, 2008
