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would like a guide to help you walk through this guy please visit learnthesky.com
and check out our online courses. Welcome, my name is Janine and in this
video we will explore the constellation known as Coma Berenices. First we'll look
at the mythology, and then explore the patterns. Coma Berenices or Berenices
Hair is a constellation in the northern sky. It was named after Queen Berenice II
of Egypt. Queen Berenice II of Egypt, a historical figure, is often
associated with Coma Berenices, and more specifically her hair.
Berenice was married to Ptolemy III Euergetes, who went on a
dangerous mission. Worried for her husband's life the Queen swore to
Aphrodite that she would cut off her long beautiful blond hair if the goddess
brought her husband back safely. When her husband returned
Berenice fulfilled her promise. She cut off her hair and placed it in a
temple dedicated to Aphrodite. However the hair disappeared from the
temple the next day. This made the King furious. To appease the King's anger the
core astronomer and mathematicians told the king that Aphrodite was so pleased
with the offering that she placed it in the sky. The astronomer then pointed to
the group of stars that we now know as Coma Berenices, or rather Berenice's Hair.
Now we'll examine the pattern of Coma Berenices. As we take a look at this
photograph the constellation that probably stands out to you the most
would be Ursa major, or also known as the Big Dipper.
The Big Dipper is remember an asterism so a smaller pattern within the larger
constellation pattern, but in this photograph we're looking for Coma
Berenices. So I want you to take your eyes towards
the lower portion the image and see if you can find an
area that has a little bit of a star cluster area. That is were Coma Berenices is,
and that's how its easiest to identify it. In this photo right down here is part
of a constellation of Coma Berenices. If we take a look at its official outline
and boundaries what we can see here is that it only consists of three stars, and
Alpha, Beta, and Gamma stars, but it's really rich in many different types of
celestial objects, and that's why this constellation is fascinating to look at.
Now that we know what the star pattern Coma Berenices looks like, let's get some
practice with how to identify it in the sky. So as you take a look at this photo
there's probably a few bright stars that stand out to you, as well as that little
cluster of stars right in the center of the photo. Those clusters of stars is the
proper way to really be able to identify this constellation and find it. When
you're looking for it in the sky you want to be able to identify that fuzzy
little patch of stars, the bright stars in this picture aren't actually part of
the constellation, but you can use them to help you find it. So when we take a
look at the constellation traced out here you can see you have the Alpha, Beta
and Gamma stars, and this right here is where you can focus on in the sky to
help you find the rest of these stars, and to be honest every time I view this
constellation outside I really only noticed this in the in the sky.
These stars are very faint, but you can use car parolee and Canis Venatici, and
Denebola, and Leo to help you find this constellation.
Let's get some more practice with how to find Coma Berenices. There are quite a
few constellations in this picture. The first one you should notice is Ursa
Major. You can use the handle of the Big Dipper to arc to Arcturus, and when you
do that Arcturus is the great orangish color star towards the bottom. That there
will connect you to Boötes, and Boötes is right next to Corona Borealis, which
kind of looks like a smile. You can find the smile towards the left side of the
screen in this picture, then you're doing a good job. However we're looking for
Coma Berenices. So again take your eyes back to the Big Dipper, and then just go
down towards the right hand side of the photo, and can you find that cluster of
stars. If you can and this is what we're looking at. So we have Ursa Major up here,
and then if you use the handle to get to Boötes you can know that Coma Berenices
is right here, and it's really this star cluster that you focus on. Notice how it
is sort of brighter than these other three stars that are within the
boundaries of this constellation. So again if we wipe this away you should
hopefully be able to find Coma Berenices using that star cluster area, and find
the three stars that are close to it.
Let's have one more practice round to help us find Coma Berenices. So as you're
looking at this photo try to identify the Big Dipper. If you can find the Big
Dipper use the handle to arc to Arcturus, and then as you arc to Arcturus you
want to just move a little bit towards the right. Can you find that little patch
a star cluster that's right towards the center of this photo? If we point
everything out, this is where we're looking at. So Coma Berenices is the
constellation that is circled in orange. So you want to find the Big Dipper, arc
to Arcturus, and then right next to is where Coma Berenices is as well.
You can also use the handle of the Big Dipper, right here, find Canis Venatici,
which is this little 2 star constellation, and right underneath it is
where Coma Berenices is, and also notice Leo the Lion right here. Coma Berenices
used to be considered like the tuft of the tail of the lion, but then was
renamed after that historical figure Queen Berenices II. so again this is a
great way to help you practice how to find this constellation. Coma Berenices
may not be a large constellation, but it does contain lots of celestial objects
that are easy to find within its boundaries. It contains one galactic
super cluster, 2 galactic clusters, a star cluster, and 8 Messier objects. These
objects are not obscured by dust because it doesn't sit within the Galactic plane,
which makes it easier to see these objects. The first celestial object we'll
examine is the Coma Cluster. It is roughly 288 light-years away, and covers
an area of more than 7.5 degrees in the sky. This cluster is
approximately 450 million years old and it used to represent Leo's tail, but it
was renamed by Ptolemy III after the legend of Queen Berenices hair. There are
about a hundred stars in the Coma Star Cluster and it lies within our own Milky
Way galaxy. If we look at the star map of Coma Berenices again, right here is where
the Coma Cluster is. So this whole area is considered to be the Coma Cluster. Now
we'll take a look at Messier 53. Messier 53 is a globular star cluster estimated
to be 58,000 light-years from Earth. This 8th magnitude celestial object needs
magnification to be seen. It looks like a hazy patch, slightly oval in shape, with a
bright core. It lives outside of the disk of the Milky Way, in fact most globular
clusters are found in the halo or outer edges of our
Galaxy. It is best seen in the months of March, April, and May. Another object to
see in Coma Berenices is Messier 88. It was one of the first objects to be
identified as a spiral galaxy, and it lies approximately 47 million light
years away. It has apparent magnitude of 10.4, so magnification is
needed if you want to see it. The incline of the galaxy makes it ideal for seeing
the structure of the galaxy, and the shape of the arms. Messier object 88 is
one of the 15 Messier galaxies that belong to the Virgo cluster. Another
notable object in Coma Berenices is Messier 64, which has also been dubbed as
the Black Eye galaxy, the Evil Eye galaxy, or the Sleeping Beauty galaxy. It is
famous for the dark band of absorbing dust that lies right in front of the
bright nucleus. It has an apparent magnitude of 9.36, so magnification is
needed to see it. With binoculars it will appear as a fuzzy patch, but with a
decent sized telescope the shape of the arms and the bright core can be
distinguished. It is estimated to be 24 million light years away. Our next set of
galaxies are called NGC 4676, also known as the Mice galaxies. They are two spiral
galaxies approximately 290 million light-years away and they have begun the
process of colliding and merging. The name of the Mice galaxies refers to the
long tails produce from them interacting with each other.
NGC 4565, also known as the Needle galaxy, is an edge-on spiral galaxy about
30 to 50 million light years away. It has been dubbed as the Needle galaxy for
it's very narrow profile, and it has a visual magnitude of 10 so again
magnification is needed to see it. It is 2 satellite galaxies that interact with
it and it has about 240 globular clusters within its halo,
which is more than the Milky Way has. It is estimated to be more luminous than
the Andromeda galaxy. Another object of importance is called
the Coma Cluster, which is a large cluster of galaxies that contains over
1,000 identified galaxies. It's too faint to be seen by the human eye, or even a
pair of binoculars or small telescope. So ancient astronomers would not have been
able to see this collection of galaxies. It is one of the largest cluster of
galaxies known, and by scientists studying it it has become the source of
the first ideas about dark matter in the universe. If we zoom in and take a look
at the Coma Cluster you can see there's a variety of shapes and sizes of
galaxies throughout this cluster, and it really is beautiful to examine. Finally
we come to dragonfly 44, an ultra diffuse galaxy estimated to be over 300 million
light years away. This galaxy is as large as the Milky Way galaxy,
but it only emits 1% as much light as our home galaxy.
So that means 99% of the matter in the galaxy cannot be seen. It consists almost
entirely of dark matter and is still considered to be one of the most
mysterious galaxies that has ever been observed.
Coma Berenices has many more celestial objects as you can see from this map, and
we only highlighted some of the more famous objects within its boundaries. I
encourage you to explore this constellation in the sky since there is
so much to see. Let's review what we've learned about Coma Berenices, also known
as Berenice's hair. It's best seen in the spring months, and is classified to be a
seasonal constellation. The best way to find it is to look between Ursa Major
and Leo. It used to be the tuft of the lion's tail, so if you can find Leo look
for the small little hazy spot above the lion.
There are many celestial objects, and most famously the Coma Open Cluster
takes up a good portion of this constellation. There's also the Coma
Cluster of galaxies that contains over a thousand galaxies. So I encourage you to
keep going outside. Try to find this constellation,
it really is fascinating to see. If you have any comments or questions leave
them in the comments. Good luck star hunting!