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coma berenices

Touring Queen Berenice’s Hair

April 11, 2024 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Deep Sky

An historical representation of the constellations Bootes, Canes Venatici, and Coma Berenices (lower right).

Let’s take a look at the ancient constellation Coma Berenices, a faint group of stars tucked under the handle of the Dipper halfway between the stars Arcturus and Denebola in Leo’s hindquarters. There is something for everyone here: history and legend, a beautiful naked-eye star cluster that invites careful inspection, and dozens of galaxies to explore with a modest telescope. And armchair astronomers can contemplate the immensely distant Coma Cluster of Galaxies, some 300 million light years away, that first yielded evidence for the mysterious dark matter that makes up a good portion of the universe [Read more…] about Touring Queen Berenice’s Hair

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Filed Under: Deep Sky coma berenices, constellation, melotte 111

The Coma Cluster of Galaxies

June 10, 2016 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Deep Sky

The brighter members of the Coma Cluster of Galaxies. The bright elliptical galaxy at left is NGC4889, and the bright elliptical at right is NGC 4874. The bright foreground star at upper right is HD 112887.
The brighter members of the Coma Cluster of Galaxies. The bright elliptical galaxy at left is NGC 4889, and the bright elliptical at right is NGC 4874. The bright foreground star at upper right is HD 112887.

Towards Coma Berenices, a tiny constellation between the handle of the Big Dipper and the haunches of the constellation Leo, the Lion, lies in a tiny expanse of sky an assembly of some of the most distant galaxies visible in a backyard telescope. These are the members of the Coma Cluster of Galaxies, a group of more than 1,000 big galaxies located so far away, their starlight left well before the first dinosaurs walked the Earth [Read more…] about The Coma Cluster of Galaxies

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Filed Under: Deep Sky coma berenices, dark matter, galaxies

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