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APOD
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
Markarian's Chain of Galaxies
Explanation: Across the heart of the Virgo Cluster of Galaxies lies a striking string of galaxies known as Markarian's Chain. The chain, pictured above , is highlighted on the upper right with two large but featureless lenticular galaxies, M84 and M86 . Prominent to their lower left is a pair of interacting galaxies known as The Eyes . The home Virgo Cluster is the nearest cluster of galaxies , contains over 2000 galaxies, and has a noticeable gravitational pull on the galaxies of the Local Group of Galaxies surrounding our Milky Way Galaxy . The center of the Virgo Cluster is located about 70 million light years away toward the constellation of Virgo . At least seven galaxies in the chain appear to move coherently , although others appear to be superposed by chance.
| Date | June 9, 2009 |
|---|---|
| Credit | Credit & Copyright: Piotrek Sadowski |
| Authors & editors: | Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |