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M84+M86 and Friends, Virgo
Near the center of the Virgo Galaxy cluster lies M86 and M84, the two bright elliptical  galaxies.  Many other galaxies of varying types and brightness are easily seen.  In fact, if you look hard enough around 27 can be seen and many more lie beyond the range of this image.   Some of the more prominent ones include, NGC 4413 bottom center, NGC 4388 bottom right,  NGC 4425 bottom left, NGC 4438 (large distorted galaxy left side),  NGC 4402  center top north of M86.  The estimated distance to the virgo cluster is 42 million light years.


Image Details

Optics      Stellarvue SV78S f6.1
Mount              LX200 fork mount
Camera
 Starlight Xpress SXV-H9
Filter
 Astronomik Type 2C, Schuler -VIR
Date
 5-6 May 04
Location  
 My Backyard Observatory in Ocean Springs, MS, Limiting 4.5   
Exposure
 120:20:20:20  RGB binned 2x2, subexposures 120sec
Notes
 Near full moon