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Winter: Orion   Canis Major   Canis Minor   Monoceros   Lepus   Eridanus   Taurus   Auriga   Camelopardalis   Lynx   Gemini   Cancer  
Spring: Hydra   Sextans   Crater   Corvus   Leo   Leo Minor   Ursa Major   Ursa Minor   Canes Venatici   Coma Berenices   Virgo   Bootes  
Summer: Draco   Corona Borealis   Hercules   Ophiuchus   Serpens   Libra   Scorpius   Sagittarius   Scutum   Aquila   Sagitta   Vulpecula   Lyra   Cygnus  
Autumn: Andromeda   Perseus   Pegasus   Cassiopeia   Cephus   Cetus   Lacerta   Delphinus   Equuleus   Capricornus   Aquarius   Pisces   Aries  
Southern Skies: Centaurus   Crux   Lupus   Corona Australis   Piscis Australis   Sculptor   Tucana   Fornax   Dorado   Columba   Puppis   Carina   Vela  
(alphabetical links)

COMA BERENICES

Berenice's Hair

comaberenices-jamieson-1822 (174K)
Coma Berenices - Celestial Atlas by Alexander Jamieson - 1822






Berenice was the queen of Egypt in 245 BC. Her name meant bringer of victory, and she was renown for her striking beauty, and the loveliness of her long golden hair. When her husband, King Ptolemy III, left to lead his armies to war against the Syrians, Berenice prayed every day at the alter of Aphrodite (Venus), for his safe return. When news came that the war was going badly, she cut off her beautiful long golden tresses, and laid them on the alter as an offering, in the hopes that it might please the goddess, and she would protect her husband.

Ptolemy returned safe and victorious the next day. When he learned of his wife's sacrifice, he went to the alter of Aphrodite himself to thank the goddess for her protection, only to find the alter empty, and the queen's hair stolen. In a rage, he vowed to kill all the priests who tended the alter. But that night, the royal astronomer, Conon, came to the king's court, and announced that the missing hair had been found. He stepped outside and pointed at an area of the sky between the herdsman (Bootes), and the lion (Leo), announcing that Aphrodite was so impressed with the queen's offering, she took the long golden locks herself, and placed them in the sky, to honour the queen. And sure enough, there was a group of sparkling stars right where Conon was pointing, the perfect celestial image of the queen's long flowing locks, described by the Roman poet Catullus as "the consecrated offering of Berenice's golden hair, which the divine Venus placed, a new constellation among the ancient ones, preceding the slow Bootes, who sinks late and reluctantly into the deep ocean..."

The mystery of the missing hair was solved, and the grouping of stars became known as the constellation Coma Berenices (Berenice's hair).

comaberenices (29K)


Coma Star Cluster

Coma Berenices may be a small constellation, but it is full of treasures. The most obvious of these, visible to the naked eye, and a wonderful sight through binoculars or a low power, large field telescope, is the beautiful cascading cluster of stars that undoubtedly first inspired the image of Queen Berenice's sparkling golden tresses, and is now known as the Coma Star Cluster. It is also known as Mel 111, after the the astronomer Melotte, who was the first to include it in an astronomical catalogue. The NASA image below was captured from the International Space Station.

ComaCluster-M111-ISS-NASA-cr (156K)
Coma Star Cluster - International Space Station - March, 2003






Coma Galaxy Cluster

Coma Berenices is also home to a different kind of cluster, a spherical cluster of galaxies over 20 million light years in diameter. It is one of the densest groupings of galaxies ever found, containing over 1000 identified galaxies. It is known as the Coma Galaxy Cluster, or Abell 1656.

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Coma Galaxy Cluster - Abell 1656 - Hubble Space Telescope - June, 2008


Deep within the Coma Galaxy Cluster, 320 million light years away, is the magnificent spiral galaxy NGC 4911. At magnitude 12.8, it can be a challenge for a small scope, But the Hubble photo below shows its true glory.

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NGC 4911 - Spiral Galaxy in Coma Cluster - Hubble Space Telescope - August, 2010






Coma Berenices contains no less than six Messier objects, starting numerically with the bright globular cluster, M53, 58,000 light years away, discovered in 1775 by Johann Elert Bode. Next in line is the Black Eye Galaxy, M64, shown in the Hubble Space Telescope image below. M64 is 24 million light years away with a magnitude of 9.36, and is a good target for a small telescope.

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M64 - The Black Eye Galaxy - Hubble Space Telescope - February, 2004


M85 is a lenticular galaxy about 60 million light years away. It has a high surface brightness which makes it difficult to see any detail in its structure. M88 on the other hand has just the right amount of brightness, exposing magnificent detail, as shown in the Adam Block photo below. M88 is about 50 million light years away, with a magnitude of 10.4.

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M88 - Spiral Galaxy - Jim Quinn/Adam Block/NOAO/AURA/NSF

M100 is an example of a grand design spiral galaxy, with prominent, well defined spiral arms. It is 50 million light years away, with an apparent magnitude of 10.1.

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M100 - Spiral Galaxy - European Southern Observatory, Chile - December, 2009



Alphabetical Links to the Constellations

ANDROMEDA   AQUARIUS   AQUILA   ARIES   AURIGA   BOOTES   CAMELOPARDALIS   CANCER   CANES VENATICI   CANIS MAJOR   CANIS MINOR   CAPRICORNUS   CARINA   CASSIOPEIA   CENTAURUS   CEPHEUS   CETUS   COLUMBA   COMA BERENICES   CORONA AUSTRALIS   CORONA BOREALIS   CORVUS   CRATER   CRUX   CYGNUS   DELPHINUS   DORADO   DRACO   EQUULEUS   ERIDANUS   FORNAX   GEMINI   HERCULES   HYDRA   LACERTA   LEO   LEO MINOR   LEPUS   LIBRA   LUPUS   LYNX   LYRA   MONOCEROS   OPHIUCHUS   ORION   PEGASUS   PERSEUS   PISCES   PISCIS AUSTRALIS   PUPPIS   SAGITTA   SAGITTARIUS   SCORPIUS   SCULPTOR   SCUTUM   SERPENS   SEXTANS   TAURUS   TUCANA   URSA MAJOR   URSA MINOR   VELA   VIRGO   VULPECULA  

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