On April 4, 2017 after I had observed 17 Comae Berenices I wanted to try to find the binary system of 32 & 33 Comae Berenices. This binary system is located a little over 4° away from Alpha Comae Berenices, the second brightest star in the constellation. I used Delta and Epsilon Virginis as a pointer to Alpha Comae Berenices because the lacklustre transparency was hindering my naked eye visibility to find the 4.32 magnitude star. My eyes were able to adapt and I could see the star if I knew exactly where to look. I placed my red dot finder on the star and looked through the eyepiece. I immediately saw M53 in the edge of my eyepiece and its diameter went across about 15% of my field of view. My observation record for this Messier object is shown below.
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| M53 Observation Record |
Unfortunately I did not bring binoculars to the observatory that evening as it would have been fun to try to resolve this globular. Also, a set of binoculars would have helped me locate 32 & 33 Comae Berenices. I never did find the binary system as it was starting to get cold and the aurora was too exciting to watch. I hope to image this globular cluster in the months to come. Provided below is an image from the Hubble Space Telescope which I will replace with my own image when I am able to obtain one.
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| Messier 53 (Image: ESA/Hubble & NASA) |
Messier 53 was the first globular cluster I have observed in 2017. Several months ago I posted a blog entry about what a globular cluster is which you can find below.
http://simonjastronomy.blogspot.com/2017/01/what-is-globular-cluster.html
This globular cluster contains about a half million stars and is located approximately 60,000 light years away from us. It was discovered in 1775 by Johann Bode, only to be rediscovered two years later by Charles Messier. Most historical references to this cluster reference its proximity to the optical double of Alpha Comae Berenices.
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