13 lines
1.6 KiB
Markdown
13 lines
1.6 KiB
Markdown
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name: Coma berenices
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created_by: skybber
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created_date: 2021-06-19 07:17:26.384790
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updated_by: skybber
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updated_date: 2022-01-17 18:27:57.110568
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---
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A faint constellation of the northern sky covering the star-poor region between Leo and the Shepherd. The constellation reflects the north pole of the Galaxy - the direction of the axis of rotation of our Galaxy, which lies in the sky near the star β Coma Berenices, and therefore we look in this direction perpendicular to the plane of the Galaxy. The Milky Way is far away, so we can expect to see a large number of distant galaxies. In addition, in the southwestern part of the constellation is the almost "unmissable" Coma-Virgo galaxy cluster, which is the heart of the local supercluster and our galactic neighborhood. It includes the so-called Coma Cluster, which brings together over 1 000 galaxies 300 to 400 million light-years away. Several of its brightest members can be well observed with a 200 mm telescope.
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Of interest to the unaided eye is the diffuse cluster around the Coma Berenices galaxy γ - Melotte 111, which contains a collection of several fifth and sixth magnitude stars scattered over an area of five degrees, making it an ideal object especially for the triad. The cluster lies only 280 light years away and is our third closest open cluster after the Big Dipper and Hyades groups. Altogether it contains 38 members up to 9.3mag over an area of twelve degrees, the brightest of which are the constellations 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 21 and 34 Coma Berenices. Melotte 111 is 500 million years old and is not included in the Messier catalogue or the NGC.
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