Though only 283 light years away, the the 400-million-year-old
Coma Berenices star cluster
still appears faint to the eye. Spread out to the south of
the modern constellation Canes Venatici
(which itself is just south of the handle
of the Big Dipper), this beautiful
cluster is the most prominent part of the modern
constellation of Coma Berenices, Berenices Hair.
Only the central part within the modern boundaries of the constellation
is shown here. The North Galactic Pole (defined by
the perpendicular to the plane
of our Galaxy) is toward the upper left-hand corner It is nicely marked
by the brighter of the pair of stars, 31 Comae, "Polaris
Galacticus Borealis."
|
To see a labelled image, push the star:
|
|
|
|
|
