Markarian's chain, containing elliptical galaxies M86 and M84 at upper right, dominates this photo of the heart of the Virgo cluster of galaxies. M87, another giant elliptical galaxy, containing the mass of several trillion suns, is at lower left.

The Virgo supercluster of galaxies is located about 70 million light years away in the direction of the constellation of Virgo and contains more than 2,000 galaxies.

• Lens: Astro-Physics 130EDT f/8 Triplet Apochromatic Refractor
• F/stop: f/6 with 0.75x matched Telecompressor
• Exposure: Composite of 10 frames, each 7.5 minutes long for 75 minutes total exposure
• Mount: Polar-aligned tracking equatorial mount, auto-guided
• Camera: Canon EOS 1D Mark II DSLR
• Mode: Raw
• ISO: 400
• White Balance: Daylight
• In-Camera Noise Reduction: Off
• Filter: None
• Temp: 35F
• Time 2:22 a.m. EDT
• Date April 10, 2005
• Location: Batsto, NJ
• Calibration: Darks: 6 x 7.5 min, no flats, no bias.
• Processing: Dark and light CR2 raw files were converted in Images Plus v2.10 to 16-bit linear TIFF files with No White Balance, Color Filter Array as the white balance type. The dark frames were averaged and a master dark frame created which was subtracted from each individual light frame. The light frames were then Bayer interpolated to convert them to color images. The 10 light frames were then registered and aligned in Registar. The light frames were then composited together and "stacked" in Images Plus using Average as the method. Digital Development was then applied to this 16-bit linear master light file. A Lucy-Richardson deconvolution was applied to the image to sharpen, and the image was corrected for vignetting and uneven field illumination with GradientXTerminator. Imperfections such as dust shadows, cosmic ray hits, and hot and cold pixels were removed using the clone and healing brushes in Photoshop CS1. Color balance was then adjusted with levels and curves modifications in Photoshop CS1. An SMI enhancement procedure was applied. Finally, Noise Ninja was used to reduce noise in the image.