When I was comet searching for 45P down at the observatory this past February 2017 my telescope kept running over a loose collection of relatively bright stars. This turned out to be what is known as the Coma Star Cluster. It finds itself on a catalogue known as the Melotte Catalogue of Star Clusters.
In the early 20th century a British astronomer named John Franklin-Adams started to photographically chart the skies. Based on his work, a photographic atlas of the night sky was published in 1914 shortly after his death. Another British astronomer named Philbert Jacques Melotte analysed the Franklin-Adams plates and took note of the star clusters. He subsequently published a catalogue of 245 objects which has become known as the Melotte Catalogue of Star Clusters.
You can find it between Boötes and Leo in the diminutive constellation of Coma Berenices. The map to this location is shown below.
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| Map to Coma Star Cluster |
The Coma Star Cluster is not on the Messier list nor is it a part of the New General Catalogue but it is object 111 in the Melotte Catalogue. It is located in the lesser known constellation of Coma Berenices which sits just North of Virgo near the tail star of Leo (Denebola).
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| Coma Star Cluster |
The cluster itself is about 5°-7.5° in size and will only fit in a set of small binoculars with a wide field of view. My moderate sized binoculars only fit approximately half of the cluster at one time. There is a double star sitting in the middle of the cluster that is represented on the Explore the Universe certification. It is quite an insignificant pair of stars without a Bayer number. It is merely known as 17 Comae Berenices and is circled below. I hope to frame it in a telescope eyepiece the next time there is a clear night.
Well, the weather continues to be frightful for astronomy this month. It seems as though there are only 1 or 2 good observing nights each month! I look forward to some clear skies the next few weeks so I can check off some items for the certification!
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