Constellation Coma Berenices

CONSTELLATION COMA BERENICES

BERENICE'S HAIR & EXTRAGALACTIC WINDOW

STELLAR CARTOGRAPHY:

Queen Berenice's Hair

Coma Berenices is a unique northern constellation originally mapped as part of Leo before being established as its own entity. It is famously named after Queen Berenice II of Egypt and contains the North Galactic Pole.

SIGNATURE TARGET

MELOTTE 111

A sprawling naked-eye open cluster representing the Queen's golden locks.

CONSTELLATION AREA

386 SQ. DEG.

Ranked as the 42nd largest modern constellation by total sky coverage area.

Coma Sync

Galactic Pole Mapping. Analyzing the Melotte 111 stellar constant. New Horizons monitors the North Galactic Vector to track this high-density extragalactic node.

👸 Identity: Berenice's Hair (The Queen's Vow).
🌌 Coma Cluster: Massive Extragalactic Galaxy Array.
📍 Nature: North Galactic Pole Calibration Node.

Horizons COMA SYNC

✨

SYNC STATE

FILAMENT

EXTRAGALACTIC ACTIVE

NORTH POLE BUFFER SECURE

Cluster Sync

Open Cluster Mapping. Analyzing the Melotte 111 luminosity constant. New Horizons monitors the 40-star brightness vector to track this proximal celestial node.

✨ Melotte 111: The Berenice Filament Primary Array.
🛰️ Proximity: Nearby Star-Group Vector (~280 LY).
👁️ Visibility: High-Contrast Naked Eye Node.

Horizons FILAMENT SYNC

💫

VEC STATE

GOSSAMER

CLUSTER NODE ACTIVE

LUMINOSITY BUFFER SECURE

Black Eye Sync

Dust Band Absorbance Mapping. Analyzing the Messier 64 contrast constant. New Horizons monitors the counter-rotating gas vectors to track this high-intensity galactic node.

👁️ Messier 64: The Spectral "Bruised" Galactic Array.
🔄 Rotation: Dual-Disk Counter-Rotating Fluid Dynamics.
🌑 Absorbance: High-Density Interstellar Dust Veil.

Horizons GALACTIC SYNC

🧿

VEC STATE

ABSORBANT

M64 NODE ACTIVE

CONTRAST BUFFER SECURE

Zenith Sync

Extragalactic Window Mapping. Analyzing the 90° Galactic Latitude constant. New Horizons monitors the zero-obscuration vector to track this deep-space portal node.

🌌 Galactic Pole: The Geometric "Zenith" of the Milky Way.
🔭 Clear-View: Minimum Interstellar Extinction Vector.
🌍 Orientation: Looking 90° "Up" from the Galactic Plane.

Horizons GATEWAY SYNC

🆙

VEC STATE

ZENITH

EXTRAGALACTIC ACTIVE

OBSCURATION BUFFER: 0%

Legacy of the Queen's Hair 📜

✨

HISTORY | THE VOW

Queen Berenice II cut off her hair as an offering to Aphrodite for her husband's safe return from war. When the hair vanished from the temple, the court astronomer claimed the gods had placed it in the stars.

THE COMA CLUSTER

This constellation contains over 1,000 identified galaxies. It is one of the densest known gatherings of galaxies in the universe, located about 320 million light-years away.

BLACK EYE GALAXY

Home to M64, the "Black Eye Galaxy," which has a spectacular dark band of absorbing dust in front of its bright nucleus, giving it a shadowed, mysterious appearance.

"Did you know? Because this constellation looks toward the 'top' of our galaxy, we can see far into deep space without our own Milky Way's dust blocking the view!"

1. The Hair of Queen Berenice

Coma Berenices, representing the locks of hair sacrificed by a Hellenistic queen, is a unique celestial tribute to devotion.

2. Ancient Legend & Divine Placement

According to myth, Queen Berenice II offered her hair to Aphrodite, only for the locks to miraculously ascend into the stars.

3. The Melancholy Coma Star Cluster

The constellation contains a sparse, large open cluster of stars spread across the night sky like loose strands of hair.

4. The Vast Coma Supercluster of Galaxies

Looking past our stellar neighborhood, the constellation gazes into the heart of thousands of interconnected galaxies.

5. Messier Treasures & Globular Cluster M53

Home to numerous Messier objects, it features the dazzling globular cluster M53 along with several face-on spiral galaxies.

6. Gateway to Deep Extragalactic Realms

Bordering Virgo, the northern portion of its territory serves as a prime portal for exploring distant cosmic structures.

7. Stargazing Queen Berenice's Realm

Best observed during spring evenings high in the sky, Coma Berenices delights astronomers with its rich tapestry of distant galaxies.

Sources

COMA STAR CLUSTER

Known as **Melotte 111**, this is a large, loose open cluster containing about 40 stars. It is one of the closest clusters to Earth (~280 LY).

CLUSTER DATA

Object: Melotte 111

BLACK EYE GALAXY

**Messier 64** features a spectacular dark band of absorbing dust in front of the galaxy's bright nucleus, giving it a "bruised" appearance.

GALAXY SPECS

Type: Spiral (M64)

COMA CLUSTER

A massive cluster containing over **1,000 identified galaxies**. It is one of the best-studied structures in the large-scale universe.

COSMIC DATA

Object: Abell 1656

The Votive Offering

Artistic rendering of Queen Berenice's hair, placed in the stars by the astronomer Conon of Samos.

Stellar Map

Mapping the right-angle shape between Boötes, Leo, and Canes Venatici.

The Coma Cluster

Visualizing the Melotte 111 open cluster, which creates the constellation's signature shimmer.

Coma Berenices Constellation • Bright Stars

Berenice’s Hair • Main Stars Ranked by Apparent Magnitude

Coma Berenices is a faint northern constellation. It has no stars brighter than magnitude 4.2 and is best known for the Coma Star Cluster and its location near the North Galactic Pole.

Star	Spectral Type	Notes
Beta Comae Berenices β Com Brightest star in Coma Berenices	G0 V	Yellow main-sequence • Nearby • Double
Gamma Comae Berenices γ Com Second brightest	K1 III	Orange giant
11 Comae Berenices Double star	G8 III	Yellow giant • Double
36 Comae Berenices Variable star	M0 III	Red giant • Variable
41 Comae Berenices Orange giant	K5 III	Orange giant
12 Comae Berenices Brightest in Coma Cluster	G7 III + A3 V	Binary • Member of Coma Star Cluster
23 Comae Berenices Phyllon Kissinou	A0 IV	White subgiant • Double
35 Comae Berenices Multiple system	G8 III	Yellow giant • Multiple
31 Comae Berenices Variable star	G0 III	Yellow giant • Variable
Diadem α Com Alpha Comae Berenices	F5 V	Yellow-white • Close binary • “The Diadem”