The centerpiece of the constellation Coma Berenices is the open star-cluster known as Melotte 111, or the Coma Star Cluster. At 280 ly distant , it is the second-closest recognizable open cluster, after the Hyades cluster.
The following images were obtained with a Sony A7iii camera and an Olympus 135mm f/2.8 lens riding on an iOptron SmartEQ Pro+ mount. The measured sky brightness was 19.77 mpsas (location: Santa Fe).
 |
| Melotte 111, the Coma Star Cluster. |
This image was obtained with a Hoya Sparkle-6 filter. This filter is way too aggressive for a lens with this focal length (135 mm), but it really brings out the relative colors of the stars.
Here is a finder chart showing the location of Melotte 111 (Coma Star Cluster) relative to other constellations in the evening sky (Big Dipper on the left, Leo on the right):
 |
| credit: SkySafariAstronomy.com |
This finder chart also hilights three nearby stars: Lalande 21185, Wolf 359, and Ross 128.
Lalande 21185 is the fourth closest star system after the Alpha Centauri system, Barnard's Star, and Wolf 359. It is 8.3 ly distant.
 |
| Lalande 21185 (circled), the fourth closest star system. |
Ross 128 is the 11th closest star system, at 11.0 ly, and magnitude 11.1 (triple 11's!).
 |
| Ross 128 (circled), the 11th closest star system. |
Here is a picture of the camera and lens attached to the IOptron mount:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are moderated, but welcome.