Virgo Galaxy Cluster

The western part of the Virgo galaxy cluster is dominated by a chain of bright galaxies known as "Markarian's Chain," consisting of 8 prominent galaxies. Beginning from the southwest, the ellipticals M84 and M86 are the brightest galaxies in the chain. NGC 4435 and NGC 4438 form a close pair of interacting galaxies. The Eyes Galaxy, NGC 4438, is particularly noteworthy in the Virgo cluster. Following in a northeastern direction, a second pair, NGC 4461 and NGC 4468, can be observed, with NGC 4473 and NGC 4477 marking the end of the chain. M87 is located close to the chain, being the largest galaxy in the Virgo Cluster and serving as its center of gravity. This "monster" galaxy has a mass of about 2.7 trillion suns and a diameter of 130,000 light-years. It is surrounded by thousands of globular clusters, some of which are visible in the image. M87 and the Virgo Cluster are approximately 50 million light-years away.

In addition to the bright objects described above, many medium-sized galaxies are visible surrounding the chain, with some showing structures like spiral arms or dust lanes. Many of these are small spiral or irregular-shaped dwarf galaxies belonging to the Virgo cluster, while others are much closer to Earth or located far in the background. Numerous faint diffuse spots indicate remote galaxies in the background.

In the eastern part of the cluster, large galaxies like M58, M89, and M90, along with many smaller NGC galaxies, can be located. A wide-angle view of this area reveals hundreds of galaxies.