Markarian's Chain is a stretch of

galaxies A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, dark matter, bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar System. ...

that forms part of the

Virgo Cluster The Virgo Cluster is a large cluster of galaxies whose center is 53.8 ± 0.3 Mly (16.5 ± 0.1 Mpc) away in the constellation Virgo. Comprising approximately 1,300 (and possibly up to 2,000) member galaxies, the cluster forms the heart of the lar ...

. When viewed from Earth, the galaxies lie along a smoothly curved line.

Charles Messier Charles Messier (; 26 June 1730 – 12 April 1817) was a French astronomer. He published an astronomical catalogue consisting of 110 nebulae and star clusters, which came to be known as the ''Messier objects''. Messier's purpose f ...

first discovered two of the galaxies, M84 and M86, in 1781. The other galaxies seen in the chain were discovered by

William Herschel Frederick William Herschel (; german: Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel; 15 November 1738 – 25 August 1822) was a German-born British astronomer and composer. He frequently collaborated with his younger sister and fellow astronomer Caroline H ...

and are now known primarily by their catalog numbers in

John Louis Emil Dreyer John Louis Emil Dreyer (13 February 1852 – 14 September 1926) was a Danish astronomer who spent most of his career working in Ireland. He spent the last decade of his life in Oxford, England. Life Dreyer was born in Copenhagen. His fath ...

New General Catalogue The ''New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars'' (abbreviated NGC) is an astronomical catalogue of deep-sky objects compiled by John Louis Emil Dreyer in 1888. The NGC contains 7,840 objects, including galaxies, star clusters and ...

, published in 1888. It was ultimately named after the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

astrophysicist,

Benjamin Markarian Benjamin "Benik" Egishevitch Markarian ( hy, Բենիամին Եղիշեի Մարգարյան) was an Armenian astrophysicist. Markarian's Chain is a group of galaxies which was named after him when he discovered that its members move with a com ...

, who discovered their common motion in the early 1960s. Member galaxies include M84 ( NGC 4374), M86 ( NGC 4406), NGC 4477, NGC 4473, NGC 4461, NGC 4458, NGC 4438 and NGC 4435. It is located at RA 12^h 27^m and Dec +13° 10′. The bright members of the chain are visible through small telescopes. Larger telescopes can be used to view the fainter galaxies . Near the center there appear the pair of interacting galaxies NGC 4438 and NGC 4435, about 50 million light-years away, known to some as Markarian's Eyes. At least seven galaxies in the chain appear to move coherently, although others appear to be superposed by chance. Six of the points on the chain can be marked by galaxies. The other two points are pairs of galaxies.

References

External links

The clickable Markarian's Chain of Virgo
Virgo (constellation) Virgo Cluster Discoveries by Benjamin Markarian {{galaxy-stub