The Great Coma Cluster (Melotte 111) (Gary Leavitt)

Celestial hemisphere: Northern · Constellation: Coma Berenices (Com) · Contains: NGC 4494 · NGC 4565 · Needle Galaxy · The star 12Com · The star 13Com · The star 14Com · The star 16Com · The star 17Com · The star 21Com · The star γCom

The Great Coma Cluster (Melotte 111), Gary Leavitt

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The Great Coma Cluster (Melotte 111)

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The Great Coma Cluster (Melotte 111)

Was able to find a clear night recently to work on a most interesting open cluster in Coma Berenices. Approximately 40 stars make up this large, bright object. It was fairly easy to find with binoculars near the curve of the handle of the Big Dipper and Arcturus. Located some 288 light years away, Mel 111 is one of the nearest open clusters to us. Neither Messier nor William Herschel listed it, but Ptolemy catalogued it in 138 A.D. Philibert Jacques Melotte listed the object in his catalog of 245 open clusters in 1915. Mel 111 was not proven to be a true cluster until 1938 by R.J. Trumpler. It is estimated to be 450 Million years old. Note, off to the left, is the Needle Galaxy, NGC4565

This image was taken as a stack of 60 lights with a full frame camera and a 200mm lens open to f/2.8 for 20 secs at 1600 ISO on my Star Adventurer tracker. Processed in DSS, Photoshop and Astronomy Tools.

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Status	Basic success
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Astrometry.net job	4648033
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The Great Coma Cluster (Melotte 111)

The Great Coma Cluster (Melotte 111)

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