Clic here for 70% size 2(292 kB)
The Virgo Cluster with its some 2000 member galaxies dominates our intergalactic neighborhood at a distance of 60 million light years;
105mm TMB refractor with flattener at f/6.5
About this Image
The image shows the central portion of the Virgo Cluster of Galaxies, and is dominated by the giant elliptical galaxiy M87 at left.
The two bright ellyptical galaxies right of the center are M84 and M86;
Starting from these two, a chain of galaxies ("Markarian's chain") stretches well to the upper left side of this image;
M87 in the lower left side of the above image shows a remarkable jet generated from a giant black hole in its center. Below you see a crop of M87 in 200% size seperately processed to show the jet.
The full extension of the jet is visible in a Hubble image.
Technical Details
Optics
Mount
MK-100 GEM
Camera
SBIG STL-11000M at -25C, internal filter wheel
Filters
Astronomik LRGB
Date
20 Mar 2004.
Location
Wildon/Austria
Sky Conditions
mag 4.5, temperature 8 C
Exposure
L = 80 minutes (10-minute sub-exposures), color will follow.
Processing
Image calibration, aligning, average stacking, DDP in ImagesPlus; tweaking in Photoshop; cropped, size 26/42/70%; north is up;