Tuesday May 28, 2024

Berenices' Hair (all night)

The constellation of Coma Berenices, or Berenice's Hair, is composed of
three medium-bright stars arranged as a right-angle triangle. In evening
during late May, those stars are located high in the western sky, several
fist diameters to the lower left of the Big Dipper and two fist diameters
above (or 18 degrees to the celestial northeast of) Leo's bright tail star Denebola. Beta Comae Berenices, the highest of the trio, is slightly
brighter than the other two stars. Diadem shines to its lower left. The star Gamma Comae Berenices (or ? Com or Al Dafirah) to Beta's lower right is
close to the limit of visibility in light polluted skies, but is easy to see
in rural locations. The Coma Star Cluster is a collection of 4th and 5th magnitude stars sprinkled just below (to the celestial southwest of) Gamma.
The large open cluster, spanning a palm's width (7 degrees) of sky, is approximately 290 light-years distant. It is best viewed using binoculars.
The cluster is meant to represent the hair of Berenice. Other names for the cluster are Ariadne's Hair, Thisbe's Veil, the Cobweb Cluster, the Flying Witch, Black Bart's Hair, and Melotte 111. In antiquity, those stars represented the tuft at the end of Leo's tail.

(Data courtesy of Starry Night)
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