Markarian's Chain
The Markarian Chain is an elongated group that forms part of the Virgo galaxy cluster. From our perspective, they appear to be lined up on a gentle curve.
History
On May 5, 1779, the German astronomer Johan Gottfried Köhler was the first to encounter the two brightest galaxies, which became known as M 84 and M 86 after the independent discovery by Charles Messier on March 18, 1781. Messier wrote about M 84: «Nebula without a star, in the virgin; the center is a little brilliant, surrounded by a light nebulosity: the brightness and appearance are somewhat reminiscent of that of No. 59 and No. 60.» About M 86 he wrote: «Nebulae without a star, in the Virgo, on the parallel and right next to the previous nebula No. 84. They look alike and are both visible in the same field of view of the telescope.» [281]
About 23 arc minutes east of M 86 is the pair of galaxies NGC 4435 and NGC 4438, also known as «The Eyes» or «Eyes Galaxies». They were discovered on April 8, 1784 by Wilhelm Herschel. Halton Arp listed these two closely related galaxies as No. 120 in his 1966 Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies. [199]
Physical Properties
Both galaxies M 84 and M 86 are elliptical galaxies of the morphological type E-E/S0. M 84 is a Seyfert 2 galaxy and is therefore very active. Distance measurements of the two galaxies range from 16.8 Mpc to 19.2 Mpc (cs. 55 to 62 million light years). [145]
In the pair of galaxies «The Eyes» (NGC 4435 and NGC 4438) the deformation of NGC 4438 (the larger of the two galaxies) is distinctive. It probably does not go back to NGC 4435, but to an early collision with M 86, which must have hit it with great force. Long-term images show filaments of ionized hydrogen gas between the two galaxies. [286] See Fig. 2.
| Name | RA [hms] | Dec [dms] | mType | Dim ['] | Btot [mag] | HRV [km/s] | PA [°] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NGC 4374, M 84 | 12 25 03.6 | +12 53 14 | E | 6.7 x 6.0 | 10.2 | 956 | 135 |
| NGC 4406, M 86 | 12 26 11.7 | +12 56 49 | E M | 9.8 x 6.3 | 9.9 | -248 | 130 |
| NGC 4435 | 12 27 40.5 | +13 04 47 | LB M | 3.0 x 2.2 | 11.8 | 781 | 13 |
| NGC 4438 | 12 27 45.4 | +13 00 35 | S M | 8.5 x 3.0 | 10.9 | 64 | 27 |
| NGC 4458 | 12 28 57.7 | +13 14 35 | E | 1.6 x 1.5 | 12.8 | 668 | |
| NGC 4461 | 12 29 02.9 | +13 11 08 | LB | 3.4 x 1.4 | 12.0 | 1918 | 9 |
| NGC 4473 | 12 29 48.7 | +13 25 49 | E | 4.2 x 2.6 | 11.2 | 2237 | 100 |
| NGC 4477 | 12 30 02.4 | +13 38 11 | LB | 3.7 x 3.3 | 11.4 | 1348 | 15 |
Further Galaxies in the Area
The following galaxies shown on the location map do not officially belong to the Markarian chain, but just happen to be in roughly the same viewing direction: NGC 4387, NGC 4388, NGC 4413, NGC 4479, NGC 4402, NGC 4425.
| Name | RA [hms] | Dec [dms] | mType | Dim ['] | Btot [mag] | HRV [km/s] | PA [°] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NGC 4387 | 12 25 41.7 | +12 48 41 | E | 1.7 x 1.1 | 13.0 | 561 | 140 |
| NGC 4388 | 12 25 46.9 | +12 39 41 | S | 5.6 x 1.5 | 11.8 | 2518 | 92 |
| NGC 4402 | 12 26 07.8 | +13 06 45 | S | 3.6 x 1.1 | 12.6 | 236 | 90 |
| NGC 4413 | 12 26 31.8 | +12 36 35 | SBR | 2.3 x 1.4 | 12.7 | 97 | 60 |
| NGC 4425 | 12 27 13.3 | +12 44 09 | LB | 2.8 x 1.0 | 12.8 | 1883 | 27 |
| NGC 4479 | 12 30 18.5 | +13 34 41 | LB | 1.6 x 1.3 | 13.5 | 822 |
Finder Chart
The Markarian chain is located in the constellation Virgo. Extend the imaginary line from the stars Chertan (θ Leonis) to Denebola (β Leonis) by the same amount. The two galaxies M 84 and M 86 are located there. The chain continues in a slight arc to the north and to the east. It's easy to get lost in the Virgo Cluster for all the galaxies. The best observation time is February to June.
