Coma Berenices

Coma Star Cluster

Melotte 111, Berenice's Hair

catalogue / cluster listing · high confidence

Melotte 111 is a loose naked-eye haze under dark skies and a perfect binocular cluster. Its sparse arc of fourth- and fifth-magnitude stars fits the spring transition from Leo toward Boötes.

Central RA: 12^h 38^m 49.0^s
Central Dec: +25° 58′ 31″
Brightest member: V 4.26
Best months from 50°N: March–June evenings
Suggested instrument: 7x50
Approx. span: 11.2°

Finder context

This wider chart is deliberately schematic: it uses nearby bright-star context and boxes the asterism’s member-star footprint, but it does not draw official constellation boundaries or promise horizon/season precision.

Framing: Approximate member-star span: 11.2°; use at least 15.7° field for context.

Observing and imaging

Naked eye

Possible as a haze or partial pattern only from darker skies; use naked-eye stars nearby for the hop.

Binoculars

Best treated as a binocular field; start with 7×50 or similar and allow roughly 11.2° of pattern spread.

Small scope

Use low power only; higher magnification breaks the pattern into separate stars.

Imaging

Frame as a wide-field scene in/near Coma Berenices; a field of view around 16° keeps context without claiming exact constellation boundaries.

Observability from your latitude

Uses this asterism’s centroid RA/Dec: transit altitude, hours above 20°, and a month-scale evening window. Default is Edmonton-ish 50°N.

Latitude 50°NMonth

Naked-eye visibility by sky class

Approximate limiting magnitudes: Bortle 3 ≈ V 6.6, Bortle 5 ≈ V 5.6, Bortle 7 ≈ V 4.6. The shape is counted recognisable when at least 70% of defining stars clear the limit.

Bortle 3: 12/12 stars — fully visibleBortle 5: 12/12 stars — fully visibleBortle 7: 2/12 stars — washed out

Member stars

Name	Bayer / Flamsteed	HR	RA J2000	Dec J2000	V mag
43Bet Com	43Bet Com	HR 4983	13^h 11^m 52.4^s	+27° 52′ 41″	4.26
15Gam Com	15Gam Com	HR 4737	12^h 26^m 56.3^s	+28° 16′ 06″	4.36
41 Com	41 Com	HR 4954	13^h 07^m 10.7^s	+27° 37′ 29″	4.80
12 Com	12 Com	HR 4707	12^h 22^m 30.3^s	+25° 50′ 46″	4.81
23 Com	23 Com	HR 4789	12^h 34^m 51.1^s	+22° 37′ 45″	4.81
35 Com	35 Com	HR 4894	12^h 53^m 17.8^s	+21° 14′ 42″	4.90
31 Com	31 Com	HR 4883	12^h 51^m 41.9^s	+27° 32′ 26″	4.94
14 Com	14 Com	HR 4733	12^h 26^m 24.1^s	+27° 16′ 06″	4.95
16 Com	16 Com	HR 4738	12^h 26^m 59.3^s	+26° 49′ 32″	5.00
13 Com	13 Com	HR 4717	12^h 24^m 18.5^s	+26° 05′ 55″	5.18
17 Com	17 Com	HR 4752	12^h 28^m 54.7^s	+25° 54′ 46″	5.29
21 Com	21 Com	HR 4766	12^h 31^m 00.6^s	+24° 34′ 02″	5.46

Source and confidence

catalogue / cluster listing; high confidence. Cluster or catalogue-associated asterism cross-checked against Sky Catalogue 2000.0 plus BSC5 member-star data.

Citations

Bright Star Catalogue, 5th Revised Ed.: Hoffleit, D. & Warren, W.H. Jr. (1991). Positions, V magnitudes, Bayer/Flamsteed identifiers. source
Sky Catalogue 2000.0: Hirshfeld, A. & Sinnott, R.W. (eds.). Vol. 2: Double Stars, Variable Stars and Nonstellar Objects. Used for cluster/asterism cross-checks.
The Hipparcos and Tycho Catalogues: ESA SP-1200 (1997). Used as the modern astrometric reference named by the atlas; the MVP pages expose BSC5 J2000 fields for the plotted bright-star members.