Tuesday, Nov 5, 2024

Inside one of the rings of the Markarian chain there is a large and active felllowship: next to M86, the giant elliptical galaxy that dominates the scene on the left, there are 7 NGC objects, 3 IC objects and 48 PGC. NGC 4438 and NGC4435 are two interacting galaxies, and NGC4438 has its disk strongly distorted by the gravitational interaction and probably by the resistance it encounters in the intergalactic medium while crossing the Virgo cluster. These two galaxies are also known as "The Eyes of Virgo". The images were taken with a Celestron C9.25 reduced to f/7 in March 2023 and ASI 2600MC camera, on AM5 mount and ASIair guider, 80 frames of 180 seconds