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| Abbreviation: Com (Coma Berenices) |
| English Name: The Berenice’s Hair |
| Genitive: Alphecca |
| Hemisphere: Northern Hemisphere |
| Location: Between the constellations of Boötes and Virgo. |
| Visible between latitudes: +90 and -60 degrees |
| Best season: Spring |
| Seen in three seasons: Winter, Spring and Summer |
| Best seen in: Early May (map) |
| Seen between: February and July |
| Right Ascension (RA): 13 hour |
| Declination (DEC): +20 degrees |
| Area (square degrees): 179 (73rd) |
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Coma Berenices (Berenice`s Hair)
- A faint northern constellation, its brightest stars between magnitude +4.0 and +5.0, form a very wide star cluster.
o - Rich faint galaxies; some are part of the Virgo Cluster.
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Messier Objects in Coma Berenices
- Messier 53
One of the more out flying Globular Galaxy from the Galactic Centre.
- Messier 64
The Black-Eye Galaxy – large telescopes show a dark cloud of dust against the galaxy’s centre that gives a popular name as Black-Eye.
- Messier 85
Elliptical Galaxy – M85 has a bright, smooth appearance with little obvious spiral structure.
- Messier 88
It is a large spiral galaxy located in the constellation Coma Berenices and is one of the brightest galaxies in the Virgo Cluster.
- Messier 91
Notable for its prominent central bar, from which its spiral arms emerge part of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies.
- Messier 98
Bright and very large and elongated, and its spiral arms contain dark dust lanes.
- Messier 99
One of the faint Messier objects but a beautiful galaxy seen almost face-on.
- Messier 100
Face-on – one of the brightest and largest galaxies in the Virgo Clusters.
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Other objects in Coma Berenices
| Select Catalog | No of Objects |
| Barnard (B) | 0x object |
| Caldwell (C) | 3x objects |
| Collinder (Cr) | 2x objects |
| New General Catalogue (NGC) | 301x objects |
| Index Catalogue (IC) | 686x objects |
| Sharpless (Sh2) | 0x object |
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Features of Interest
- Melotte 111 – The Coma Star Cluster; Open Cluster; choosing and using binocular for astronomy; in the dark, this open cluster is visible to the naked-eye.
o - NGC 4565 – reveals the shape of this spiral galaxy, seen edge-on; a lane of dark dust runs across the galaxy.
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Named Stars
- Diadem (Alpha Comae Berenices); just loses out to Beta. (Magnitude +4.23)
- Beta Comae Berenices (Magnitude +4.32)
- Gamma Comae Berenices (Magnitude +4.35)
- more list of stars in Coma Berenices
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Planetarium / Constellation Map
| Live constellation visible from the UK :- Planetarium (Coma Berenices) | Best Seen in: early May (map) | Seen between: February and July |
IAU Sky Chart: Coma Berenices
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Go To
Constellations – Visible from the UK
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Parts visible from the UK
| Antlia | Columba | Eridanus | Fornax | Microscopium | ||
| Piscis Austrinus | Puppis | Pyxis | Sagittarius | Scorpius | ||
| Sculptor |
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Constellations: Southern Celestial Hemisphere
…..– never seen from the UK
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