Galaxies South of M86 in the Virgo Cluster

This field lies just south of M86 in the heart of the Virgo Cluster, centered closer to NGC 4425. While M86 and the famous “Eyes” are only partially visible near the top of the frame, the composition captures several other galaxies in this rich environment, including NGC 4406, NGC 4407, NGC 4438, and IC 3363.

With 7 hours of LRGB data from Telescope Live’s Chilean site, the dataset proved challenging due to dust donuts and uneven field illumination, requiring painstaking corrections and some compromises in the final crop. The frame is sprinkled with numerous faint background galaxies, giving it a deep-field quality that highlights the density and variety of galactic systems populating the Virgo Cluster.

Data credit: Telescope.Live