M86
NGC 4406, NGC 4387
24’ x 18’ | 0.3”/px | 4800 × 3600 px
Virgo
RA 12h 26m 13s Dec +12° 56’ 25” | 0°
Messier 86, also known as NGC 4406, is a lenticular or elliptical galaxy located in the constellation Virgo. It was discovered by Charles Messier on March 18, 1781, during the same observing session that produced M84 and several other Virgo Cluster entries. M86 lies at a distance that has been the subject of some debate, with estimates ranging from around 52 to 60 million light-years, reflecting the difficulty of pinning down precise distances within the complex gravitational environment of the Virgo Cluster. It is one of the largest and most luminous galaxies in the cluster, spanning roughly 135,000 light-years in diameter, and reaches an apparent magnitude of around 8.9, making it marginally brighter in appearance than its near neighbour M84, with which it is imaged together here. Like M88 and M90, M86 is one of the relatively rare galaxies that exhibits a blueshift rather than a redshift, indicating it is moving toward the Milky Way. Its approach velocity is among the highest of any Messier object. This same motion has subjected M86 to significant ram-pressure stripping, and X-ray observations have revealed a striking plume of hot gas being swept back from the galaxy in the direction of its motion. M86 is also a source of radio emission and hosts a supermassive black hole estimated at several hundred million solar masses.
M86 is most naturally photographed as part of the full Markarian's Chain composition rather than as an isolated target. However, in a quest to image all Messier objects, it felt right to make more of a close-up image. The full image captured included M84, this is a crop of that image.
Source: Claude.ai
Data Acquisition
Data was collected during 6 nights in February and March of 2026, using a 14” reflector telescope with full-frame camera at the remote observatory in Spain. Data was gathered using standard LRGB filters. A total of approximately 15 hours of data was finally combined to create the final image.
Location Remote hosting facility IC Astronomy in Oria, Spain (37°N 2°W)
Sessions
Frames
Equipment
Telescope
Mount
Camera
Filters
Guiding
Accessoires
Software
Planewave CDK14 (2563mm @ f/7.2), Optec Gemini Rotating focuser
10Micron GM2000HPS, custom pier
Moravian C3-61000 Pro (full frame), cooled to -10 ºC
Chroma 2” LRGB unmounted, Moravian filterwheel L, 7-position
Unguided
Compulab Tensor I-22, Dragonfly, Pegasus Ultimate Powerbox v2
Voyager Advanced, Viking, Mountwizzard4, Astroplanner, PixInsight 1.9.4
Processing
All processing was done in Pixsinsight unless stated otherwise. Default features were enhanced using scripts and tools from RC-Astro, SetiAstro, GraXpert, CosmicPhotons and others. Images were calibrated using 50 Darks, 50 Flats, and 50 Flat-Darks, registered and integrated using WeightedBatchPreProcessing (WBPP). The processing workflow diagram below outlines the steps taken to create the final image.
The original image of M84 and M86 combined was processed to a final image. From that image, individual crops were created for each individual galaxy.
The rest of the processing followed a fairly standard workflow, as outlined below.
Processing workflow (click to enlarge)
This image has been published on Astrobin.
