Markarian's Chain

Markarian's Chain is a string 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 it in the mid 1970s. Member galaxies include M84 (NGC 4374), M86 (NGC 4406), NGC 4477, NGC 4473, NGC 4461, NGC 4458, NGC 4438 and NGC 4435. It's located at RA 12h 27m and Dec +13° 10′. At least seven galaxies in the chain appear to move coherently, although others appear to be superposed by chance. For a closer view, go to the Virgo Cluster also on the galaxies page. This cluster of galaxies can be seen from a dark location with a scope over 8 inches. There is a great writeup on Cloudy Nights http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=1779