Markarian's Chain is a stretch of galaxies that forms part of the Virgo Cluster. It's called a "chain" because, when viewed from Earth, the galaxies lie along a smoothly curved line. It was named after the Armenian astrophysicist, B. E. Markarian, who discovered their common motion in the mid 1970s. Member galaxies include M84, M86, NGC 4477, NGC 4473, NGC 4461, NGC 4458, NGC 4438 and NGC 4435. 

Location

Μauna Keratea Observatory - 21 February 2010

Telescope

WO Zenith Star 105 APO Triplet

Field Flattener

Astro -Tech 2”

Μount

Sky Watcher EQ6 Pro

Camera

QHY 9 Mono

Filters / Exposure Time

Ha 12x1200 sec bin 1x, RGB 10x600 bin 2x

Total Exposure Time

10 Hours

Software

Nebulosity 2, Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop CS4, Starry Night, EQmod