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.

IC 2118
IC 2118: Galaxien in Virgo; Takahashi FSQ 106 ED f=530 mm; SBIG STL1000M; L 224x300 s; R 32x300 s; G 32x300 s; B 31x300s; Thank shooting platform Gurnigelpass; © 2023 Hansjörg Wälchli [46]
Markarian Chain
Markarian Chain: The Eyes NGC 4435/4438 + M 84/86 + 100 more galaxies. See image with labels; Schmidt-Newton 250 mm f/4, Canon EOS 20Da 1600 ISO; RGB 151 min; Obwalden; © 2018 Eduard von Bergen [29]
Markarian Chain
Markarian Chain: With M 87, the center of the Virgo cluster (bottom left); TS Triplet APO 90, Reducer Photoline 0.79 (490mm / f5.44), SBIG ST-8300; 13L x 600sec 1×1, 13R, 15G, 12B 2×2 x 600sec; Berner Oberland; © 2018 Bernhard Blank, Dragan Vogel [32]

History

On 5 May 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 18 March 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 8 April 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

NGC 4438 + M 86
NGC 4438 + M 86: Past collision of two galaxies. Image taken with the Mayall 4m telescope at Kitt Peak [286]

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.

Revised+Historic NGC/IC Version 22/9, © 2022 Dr. Wolfgang Steinicke [277]
Name RA Dec Type bMag vMag B-V SB Dim PA z D(z) MD Dreyer Description Identification, Remarks
NGC 4374 12 25 03.6 +12 53 13 Gx (E1) 10.1 9.1 1.0 13.0 6.5 × 5.6 135 0.003536 14.94 16.840 vB, pL, R, psbM, r M 84, UGC 7494, MCG 2-32-34, VCC 763, 3C 272.1, CGCG 70-58, IRAS 12224+1309, Markarian chain
NGC 4406 12 26 11.5 +12 56 47 Gx (E3) 9.8 8.9 0.9 13.2 8.9 × 5.8 130 -0.000814 16.200 vB, L, R, gbMN, r M 86, UGC 7532, MCG 2-32-46, CGCG 70-72, VCC 881, Markarian chain
NGC 4435 12 27 40.5 +13 04 47 Gx (SB0) 11.7 10.8 0.9 12.5 3 × 2.2 13 0.002672 11.29 16.230 vB, cL, R, np of 2 UGC 7575, MCG 2-32-64, CGCG 70-98, VV 188, Arp 120, VCC 1030, IRAS 12251+1321, The Eyes, Markarian chain
NGC 4438 12 27 45.6 +13 00 31 Gx (S0-a) 11.0 10.2 0.8 13.6 8.5 × 3 27 0.000237 1.00 13.950 B, cL, vlE, r, sf of 2 UGC 7574, MCG 2-32-65, CGCG 70-97, VV 188, Arp 120, VCC 1043, IRAS 12252+1317, The Eyes, Markarian chain
NGC 4458 12 28 57.7 +13 14 32 Gx (E1) 12.9 12.1 0.8 13.2 1.6 × 1.5 45 0.002118 8.95 16.790 pB, S, R, bM, p of 2 UGC 7610, MCG 2-32-82, CGCG 70-114, VCC 1146, Markarian chain
NGC 4461 12 29 02.9 +13 11 04 Gx (SB0-a) 12.1 11.2 0.9 12.8 3.4 × 1.4 9 0.006441 27.21 16.800 pF, S, R, bM, f of 2 NGC 4443, UGC 7613, MCG 2-32-84, CGCG 70-115, VCC 1158, Markarian chain
NGC 4473 12 29 48.7 +13 25 47 Gx (E5) 11.2 10.2 1.0 12.8 4.5 × 2.5 94 0.007485 31.62 15.860 pB UGC 7631, MCG 2-32-93, CGCG 70-125, VCC 1231, Markarian chain
NGC 4477 12 30 02.0 +13 38 13 Gx (SB0) 11.4 10.4 1.0 13.1 3.7 × 3.3 9 0.004520 19.09 16.800 pB, cL UGC 7638, MCG 2-32-97, CGCG 70-129, VCC 1253, IRAS 12275+1354, Markarian chain

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.

Revised+Historic NGC/IC Version 22/9, © 2022 Dr. Wolfgang Steinicke [277]
Name RA Dec Type bMag vMag B-V SB Dim PA z D(z) MD Dreyer Description Identification, Remarks
NGC 4387 12 25 41.7 +12 48 37 Gx (E4) 13.0 12.1 0.9 12.8 1.7 × 1.1 140 0.001574 6.65 17.710 pF, vS, R, * 13 90" np, np of 2 UGC 7517, MCG 2-32-39, CGCG 70-65, VCC 828
NGC 4388 12 25 46.9 +12 39 43 Gx (Sb) 11.8 11.0 0.8 13.0 5.6 × 1.5 92 0.008419 35.56 18.220 vF, E, sf of 2 UGC 7520, MCG 2-32-41, CGCG 70-68, VCC 836, IRAS 12232+1256
NGC 4402 12 26 07.8 +13 06 47 Gx (Sb) 12.6 11.8 0.8 13.2 3.9 × 1.1 90 0.000774 3.27 16.720 F, L, mE 90° (Auw 30) UGC 7528, MCG 2-32-44, CGCG 70-71, VCC 873, IRAS 12235+1323
NGC 4413 12 26 32.1 +12 36 37 Gx (SBab) 12.7 11.9 0.8 13.0 2.3 × 1.4 60 0.000340 1.44 16.680 cF, S, gbM, 2 st n, np NGC 4407, UGC 7538, MCG 2-32-49, IRAS 12239+1253, VCC 912, CGCG 70-76
NGC 4425 12 27 13.3 +12 44 05 Gx (SB0-a) 12.7 11.8 0.9 12.9 2.8 × 1 27 0.006224 26.29 16.800 pF, S, R, bM UGC 7562, MCG 2-32-59, CGCG 70-91, VCC 984
NGC 4479 12 30 18.3 +13 34 41 Gx (SB0) 13.4 12.4 1.0 13.1 1.6 × 1.3 24 0.002922 12.34 17.950 pB, pL UGC 7646, MCG 2-32-100, CGCG 70-134, VCC 1283

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.

Finder Chart Markarian's Chain
Markarian's Chain in constellation Virgo. Charts created using SkySafari 6 Pro and STScI Digitized Sky Survey. Limiting magnitudes: Constellation chart ~6.5 mag, DSS2 close-ups ~20 mag. [149, 160]

More Objects Nearby (±15°)

References