Visible in both hemispheres, but located in the northern sky, Coma Berenices has its roots as an ancient asterism. Its name means “Berenice’s Hair” in Latin and refers to Queen Berenice II of Egypt, who sacrificed her long hair as a votive offering. The constellation was introduced to Western astronomy in the 3rd century BC by Conon of Samos and was further corroborated. It is the only modern constellation named for a historic person.

Coma Berenices is wholly visible to observers north of latitude 56°S. Covering 386.5 square degrees and 0.937% of the night sky, it ranks 42nd of the 88 constellations by area.

The constellation’s major stars are Alpha, Beta, and Gamma Comae Berenices. They form a half square, along the diagonal of which run Berenice’s imaginary tresses, formed by the Coma Star Cluster. The constellation’s brightest star is Beta Comae Berenices, a 4.2-magnitude main sequence star similar to the Sun. Coma Berenices contains the North Galactic Pole and one of the richest-known galaxy clusters, the Coma Cluster, part of the Coma Supercluster.

	Applicable Information
Visibility In Pacific Northwest	December to August
Best Times To View	May
Right Ascension	33.3074303°–13.3040485°
Declination	11h 58m 25.0885s–13h 36m 06.9433s
Area	386 square degrees
Main Stars	3
Brightest Object	β Com
Meteor showers	Coma Berenicids
Messier objects	8
Neighboring Constellations	Canes, Venatici, Ursa Major, Leo, Virgo, Boötes

History/Myth

Coma Berenices has been recognized as an asterism since the Hellenistic period and is the only modern constellation named for an historic figure.

It was introduced to Western astronomy during the 3rd century BC by Conon of Samos, and the court astronomer of Egyptian ruler Ptolemy III Euergetes, to honor Ptolemy’s consort, Berenice II.

Tycho Brahe is also credited with Coma’s designation as a constellation, included it in his 1602 star catalogue. Brahe recorded fourteen stars in the constellation; Johannes Hevelius increased its number to twenty-one, and John Flamsteed to forty-three.

Coma Berenices was known to the Akkadians as Ḫegala.

In Arabic astronomy Coma Berenices was known as Al-Dafira and Al-Hulba which would be included in the constellation Leo.

The North American Pawnee people depicted Coma Berenices as ten faint stars. In the South American Kalina mythology, the constellation was known as ombatapo, which translates to face.

The constellation was also recognized by several Polynesian peoples, who had several different names for the constellation.

Stars

Coma Berenices is not particularly bright, as none of its stars are brighter than fourth magnitude, although there are 66 stars brighter than or equal to apparent magnitude 6.5.

The constellation’s brightest star is Beta Comae Berenices, which has a magnitude 4.2 and with a high proper motion.

Although it is not large, Coma Berenices contains one galactic supercluster, two galactic clusters, one star cluster and eight Messier objects. These objects can be seen with minimal obscuration by dust because the constellation is not in the direction of the galactic plane.

Coma Berenices has more than 200 variable stars, although many are obscure. The Coma Cluster contains at least 8 spectroscopic binaries, and 7 eclipsing binaries. There are over thirty double stars and at least seven known exoplanets.

M53, or NGC 5024, is a globular cluster which was discovered by Johann Elert Bode in 1775 and Charles Messier in February 1777. It is one of the most distant globular clusters from Earth. Using a small telescope, one can see M53.

M64, or NGC 4826, is known as the Black Eye Galaxy because of the prominent dark dust lane in front of the galaxy’s bright nucleus. Also known as the Sleeping Beauty and Evil Eye galaxy, it is about 24 million light-years away. Recent studies indicate that the interstellar gas in the galaxy’s outer regions rotates in the opposite direction from that in the inner regions, leading astronomers to believe that at least one satellite galaxy collided with it less than a billion years ago.

M85 either an elliptical or a lenticular galaxy that is a member of the Virgo cluster of galaxies. It isn’t easy to see is small telescopes or binoculars. M85 contains approximately 400 billion stars, and most of these stars are very old.

M88 is a spiral galaxy with well-defined and symmetrical arms, which contains an active galactic nucleus and a supermassive blackhole at its center. The supermassive blackhole is said to be 100 million times more massive than our Sun. It can be seen by smaller telescopes.

M91 is a barred spiral galaxy and is one of the faintest objects in Messier’s catalog. It can be spotted with medium-sized telescopes in the constellation Coma Berenices most easily during May.

M98 is an intermediate spiral galaxy and one of the faintest Messier objects. M98 contains about a trillion stars as well as an abundance of neutral hydrogen gas and interstellar dust. Because of the high amounts of gas and dust, there are numerous star-forming regions in the galaxy, especially in its nucleus and arms. Observers will need at least a medium-sized telescope to see M98 well.

M99 is also known as the Coma Pinwheel or Virgo Cluster Pinwheel, is an unbarred spiral galaxy. It appears almost head-on and can be seen in small telescopes, as a dim ball of light with a brighter centre. With 10-inch telescopes or larger, the spiral structure can be seen under good conditions and more detail can be seen with larger scopes.

M100, also known as NGC 4321, is a grand design intermediate spiral galaxy located within the southern part of the constellation. It was one of the first spiral galaxies to be discovered. It is difficult to see in small binoculars, but using large binoculars and small telescopes, M100 appears as a dim patch of light. Under good conditions, larger amateur telescopes reveal some of the galaxy’s dust structure.

NGC 4565 is an edge-on spiral galaxy which appears superimposed on the Virgo Cluster and has been nicknamed the Needle Galaxy.

Make sure to check out other articles on the site, including a brief introduction to constellations, other constellation articles, and more!