Markarian's Chain of Galaxies - Part 1
How many galaxies can you see in the picture? I count 16 or so as "easy" to see. This is only part of the chain, but this area of this sky has around 2,000 galaxies.
M84, M86, and a host of other galaxies are present in this area between the constellations Leo, Coma Berenices, and Virgo. April 21, 2006, NHAC Neal Site with my usual equipment. 14x4 minute exposures, temps were warm at 66 degrees and 100% humidity. I did my usual processing. I used 4 dark frames, but I still am seeing a lot more noise than I was at temperatures 30 degrees lower! I hammered the dark levels to hide some of the pesky noise.