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chance to increase my observing list - Coma Berenices

stevetynant

By stevetynant
in Observing - Deep Sky

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stevetynant

stevetynant

Posted
Posted

Yesterday when I left the house for work at 6am there was a large gap in the clouds which seem to be taking over now in late December - I paused for a moment just to look up and could see a group of stars I was unfamiliar with. Out came the phone - Skeye pointing upwards and identified it as Coma Berenices - what I wasn't expecting was the huge pool of Messiers and galaxys all condensed into such a relatively small area close by.

The front of my house faces South but due to the lights outside I rarely observe there - Coma Berenices is a faint Northern Constellation apparantly (which is my regular back garden observing territory) so how I've missed this I'm not sure- perhaps it sits beneath the horizon at this time of the year out of my view during the late evening / night?

What it is, if we ever get out from under the clouds again, should be an opportunity to increase my meagre observing list - I'm hoping as winter moves on I'll get a better chance to observe - just wondered if anyone has any observations in this area of the skey and can offer some insights

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cotterless45

cotterless45

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Yep, one of the best areas to observe. Faint constellation from town, but it's in the gap between the back end of Leo and Bootes. Melotte111 is the spangle cluster of stars up in the right hand corner.First thing to see is

M53 a globular cluster which you can spot in a finder alongside alpha.

M64 is the bright Black Eye galaxy nearly at the corner of a triangle -alpha-beta. It might some signs of it's darker central patch at x150.It is however pleasingly bright.

This whole area is packed with galaxies being placed in the area of the Coma Virgo group,Canes Venatici and the many galaxies that surround Ursa Major. Some of the easiest are NGC4559,4494,4565,4274,4725,4826,4192,4254,4321,4382,4501 and 4548. I think that NGC4725 is one of the brightest here.

There's also a few more globular clusters NGC5053,4147 and 4153.

Burnham gives about 100 further visible galaxies down to mag 13.6.

The Melotte is the hair of Queen Bernices and wonderful in bins or at very low power,neat

Nick.

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michael.h.f.wilkinson

michael.h.f.wilkinson

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Coma is a genuine smorgasbord of galaxies. BTW, the group of stars you spotted is actually an open cluster (Melotte 111, or the Coma star cluster). Many of the galaxies in the Coma cluster of galaxies are fainter than those in the Virgo cluster (which is much nearer), but the Virgo cluster spills over into Coma. Great area, some older reports are here:

and here

BTW, galaxies are very susceptible to LP. You really need dark skies to see them properly.

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Double Kick Drum

Double Kick Drum

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Once you get started, you'll stumble across loads.

As well as all the Coma gems, there's the whole Canes, Ursa Major, Leo and Virgo area to get stuck into.

M53 (a globular) and M64 (the Black Eye galaxy) are the two brightest in Coma but NGC 4565 (the Needle galaxy) is a fine sight too.

Just on and over the Virgo border is Mankarian's chain, including M84, M86, NGC 4435 and NGC 4438 as brighter elements at the Virgo end. Nearby are also NGC 4596, M87, M58, M59 and M60. I'll stop there but could list a whole load more.

Leo has M65, M66 and NGC 3628 (I think!) all together. Another trio is M95, M96 and M105 with a couple of NGCs in there too. NGC 2903 is a fine sight and NGC 3512 is quite good too.

Canes Venatici contains a few bright galaxies; M94, M63, M106 and M51 most obviously but also NGC 4631 (the Whale galaxy) is worth a peep as is the irregular galaxy NGC 4494.

Ursa Major is good too. Try spotting the NGC companions of M81 and M82.

I use a five inch refractor and have seen over 100 galaxies between those five constellations alone. That gives an idea of the rich pickings in that area of the sky.

Happy hunting!

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acey

acey

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There are 983 NGC objects in Coma Berenices, so plenty to choose from. The only constellation with more is Virgo with 1181, and Leo comes third with 828. All NGCs are potentially within reach of a 12" at a dark site, and with an 8" you could certainly see many hundred. The next ranking constellations (according to Sinnott's NGC 2000.0) are: Cetus 648, Ursa Major 510, Bootes 493, Canes Venatici 492, Pisces 473, Eridanus 436, Pegasus 433.

The Herschel 400 list is a good guide to objects worth pursuing with an 8", and Coma is well represented.

http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/herschel/h400lstc.html

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crashtestdummy

crashtestdummy

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im yet to have a look from a dark site when its higher in the sky so hopefully that will satisfy me 100% plus i will go over the other ones in the area for better views.i would like to be able to know where all the messiers are by just looking at the sky and goign too them without any charts but its a fair amount of time in the future.will probably start on the caldwells in the spring too

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Mike73

Mike73

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will probably start on the caldwells in the spring too

I very nearly started the Dyers Finest NGC list as well as sketching the Messiers but the weather we've had this Autumn has held me back, plenty of time for that in the future I guess. :)

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