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Markarian Galaxies Optical Database

Metadata Updated: March 13, 2026

A database for the entire Markarian (First Byurakan Spectral Sky Survey or FBS) Catalog is presented that combines extensive new measurements of their optical parameters with a literature and database search. The measurements were made using images extracted from the STScI Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) of F_pg (red) and J_pg (blue) band photographic sky survey plates obtained by the Palomar and UK Schmidt telescopes. The authors provide accurate coordinates, morphological type, spectral and activity classes, red and blue apparent magnitudes, apparent diameters, axial ratios, and position angles, as well as number counts of neighboring objects in a circle of radius 50 kpc. Special attention was paid to the individual descriptions of the galaxies in the original Markarian lists, which clarified many cases of misidentifications of the objects, particularly among interacting systems, larger galaxies with knots of star formation, possible stars, and cases of stars projected on galaxies. The total number of individual Markarian objects in the database is now 1544. The authors also have included redshifts which are now available for 1524 of the objectswith UV-excess radiation, as well as Galactic color excess E(B-V) values and their 2MASS or DENIS infrared magnitudes. The table also includes extensive notes that summarize information about the membership of Markarian galaxies in different systems of galaxies and about new and revised activity classes and redshifts. The new optical information on Markarian galaxies was obtained from images extracted from the STScI Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) of F_pg (red) and J_pg (blue) band photographic sky survey plates obtained by the Palomar and UK Schmidt telescopes. This table was created by the HEASARC in November 2009 based on the electronic version of the optical database of Markarian galaxies which was obtained from the CDS (their catalog J/ApJS/170/33 file table1.dat). This is a service provided by NASA HEASARC .

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: See this page for license information.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Created Date April 11, 2025
Metadata Updated Date March 13, 2026

Metadata Source

Harvested from NASA Data.json

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date April 11, 2025
Metadata Updated Date March 13, 2026
Publisher High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center
Maintainer
Identifier ivo://nasa.heasarc/markarian2
Data Last Modified 2026-03-09
Category Astrophysics
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 026:00
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id 1421d707-ed94-45ce-b563-12cb53ab0296
Harvest Source Id 58f92550-7a01-4f00-b1b2-8dc953bd598f
Harvest Source Title NASA Data.json
Homepage URL ivo://nasa.heasarc/markarian2
License https://www.usa.gov/government-works
Program Code 026:000
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 5c3be877681a7f74590084c17b65b95aaeeabe32e9c0134e8365f7f73396fac1
Source Schema Version 1.1

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