by Craig and Tammy Temple
This is a grouping of galaxies in Virgo that form a gentle curved shape, hence it's name, Markarian's Chain. It was discovered in the mid 1970's by B. E. Markarian. The grouping forms part of the Virgo Cluster. This image is a total of 3 hours of integration time acquired on March 29, 2009. The temperature was 40° F.
- Orion 80ED (f/7.5) on Atlas EQ-G w/EQMOD
- Guided with Orion SSAG on WO ZS66 using PHD
- Canon 350D (self-modified) with Astronomik IR-block EOS clip filter + 2" Hutech IDAS LPS filter
- 60 x 180s @ ISO 1600
- Dark/Sky flat/flat dark/Bias calibration