Benjamin Egishevich Markarian (Armenian : Բենիամին Եղիշեի Մարգարյան) was an Armenian astrophysicist. Markarian's Chain is a group of galaxies which was named after him when he discovered that its members move with a common motion. He is also the namesake of a catalog of compact, optically bright galaxies (including both starbursts and active galactic nuclei) known as Markarian galaxies.