Coma Berenices

"Berenice's Hair"

By IAU and Sky & Telescope magazine (Roger Sinnott & Rick Fienberg) [CC-BY-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Abbreviation: Com
Genitive: Comae Berenices
Constellation family: Ursa Major
Nearest constellations: Boötes, Canes Venatici, Leo, Ursa Major, and Virgo
Right ascension: 12.76h
Declination: 21.83°
Visible between latitudes: +90° and -60°
Square degrees: 386
Luminary: Beta Comae Berenices
Named stars: Diadem
Notable deep sky objects: M53, M54 (Black Eye Galaxy), M85, M88, M91, M98, M99, M100, NGC 4565 (Needle Galaxy), NGC 5053, Coma Star Cluster (Melotte 111)

About

By John Flamsteed [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Coma Berenices is a faint constellation in the Northern Hemisphere that is best viewed in May. While there are no stars above fourth magnitude present, Coma Berenices does include a large number of interesting deep sky objects.

Mythology

The name Coma Berenices refers to the hair of Queen Berenice II, who was the wife of Ptolemy III of Egypt. She sacrificed her hair to the goddess Aphrodite after her husband safely returned from a mission overseas; Aphrodite was pleased with the offering and placed the hair in the sky.

Gallery of objects in Coma Berenices

Coma Cluster (cluster containing more than 1000 galaxies):

By Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

NGC 4565 (Needle Galaxy):

By ESO [CC-BY-4.0], via ESO

M54 (NGC 4826, or the Black Eye Galaxy):

By NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

NGC 4676 (a pair of merging galaxies also called The Mice):

Merging galaxies NGC 4676 (captured by the Hubble Space Telescope)

By NASA, H. Ford (JHU), G. Illingworth (UCSC/LO), M.Clampin (STScI), G. Hartig (STScI), the ACS Science Team, and ESA [CC-BY-3.0], via ESA/Hubble

NGC 4921 (spiral galaxy):

By NASA, ESA, and K. Cook (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA) [CC-BY-3.0], via ESA/Hubble