Markarian's Chain

An elegant arc of galaxies on the border between the constellations of Virgo and Coma Berenices.

Markarian's Chain

The Markarian Chain is an elegant arc of galaxies on the border between the constellations of Virgo and Coma Berenices, forming part of the famous Cluster in Virgo. The main belt consists of seven bright galaxies, the best-known members of which are M84 and M86 on the right, approximately 50 to 60 million light-years from Earth. The string is named after Armenian astrophysicist Benjamin Markarian, who discovered their collective motion in the early 1960s. The Virgo cluster of galaxies contains over 2,000 galaxies. This photo shows just a small slice of a huge galactic "city", and a magnifying glass will help you discover dozens of other very distant galaxies.

Below the main image are selected details of the most prominent parts of the field. They show the different shapes of galaxies, from giant elliptical systems to lenticular galaxies to a gravitationally disturbed pair dubbed the Eyes.

Images of the object

Selected views and details from the original gallery.

Two giant elliptical galaxies form the prominent beginning of the Markarian chain. Also captured in their vicinity are numerous smaller members of the Virgo Cluster and two striking spiral galaxies seen almost from the side.

M87 is an extremely massive elliptical galaxy near the center of the Cluster in Virgo. At its core is a supermassive black hole, whose surroundings became the first directly imaged shadow of a black hole.

The pair known as the Eye galaxy are among the most dramatic parts of the chain. NGC 4438 is strongly deformed by gravitational interactions, and its irregular dust lanes and bluish structures stand out in the image.

Another distinctive pair of Markarian chain. The smaller elliptical NGC 4458 contrasts with the more elongated lenticular galaxy NGC 4461, and the surrounding field is filled with many faint distant galaxies.