Galaxies - Coma Berenices

Introduction | Galaxies (Messier) | Galaxies (NGC) | Large-FOV Photos | Links

On this page I show photos of galaxies from the "larger region" Coma Berenices, which I took with different cameras. Partially, I have had the photos evaluated and labeled by nova.astrometry.net, so that one can find the larger galaxies more easily.

Introduction

From April to June it is "galaxy time", and so I photograph and observe more galaxies during this time. With the eVscope, this means that because of the small field of view (about the size of the moon), I generally get only one galaxy on a photo; only in exceptional cases it can be more. Since acquiring the ZWO ASI294, however, I can take larger fields of view; on the PS 72/432 refractor, for example, I get a field of view of a good 2.5° x 1.7° - the largest I can achieve with my equipment. As a result, depending on the area of sky in which it was taken, a photograph may contain a large number of galaxies, most of which are very small. However, because of the large field of view, even the larger galaxies in the photos are quite small.

On this page I show galaxies, partly alone, partly together with a few others, and partly on overview photos, on which one can recognize the galaxies only with difficulty. I therefore let evaluate and label the overview photos by nova.astrometry.net, so that one finds the larger galaxies more easily on the photos.

This page is dedicated to the "larger region" Coma Berenices. The constellation contains the Coma Galaxy Cluster (around NGC 4889) and parts of the Virgo Galaxy Cluster (south of M 85) (and some more galaxies).

Coma Galaxy Cluster

The Coma galaxy cluster is a huge collection of over 1000 galaxies that occupy an angle of about 3° × 5° in the constellation of Coma Berenices. Due to its relative proximity, it has played a major role in the study of the large-scale distribution of galaxies and bears the designation Abell 1656 in the catalog of the astronomer George Ogden Abell.

The central region is 2° in size and around 300 million light years away from the sun. The diameter of the Coma galaxy cluster is around 20 million light years.

Map: NGC 4889 (selected) is an elliptical galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices and about at the center of the Coma Galaxy Cluster (Image Courtesy of SkySafari Astronomy, www.simulationcurriculum.com).

The Coma cluster is part of the Coma Supercluster. In the sky just to the south is the much closer Virgo Cluster, whose distance is 45-60 million light years.

Virgo Galaxy Cluster

Map: Larger galaxies in the constellation Coma Berenices; in the South the Virgo Galaxy Cluster.

Larger galaxies: M 64, M 85, M 88, M 91, M 98, M 99, M 100; most of these galaxies belong to the Virgo Galaxy Cluster, which starts at about M 85.

Galaxies (Messier)

Messier Galaxies: M 64, M 85, M 88, M 91, M 98, M 99, M 100

The following photos were taken with the eVscope:


M 64	M 85 (with NGC 4394)	M 88

M 91	M 98	M 99

M 100

Galaxies (NGC)

NGC Galaxies: NGC 4298/4302, NGC 4394, NGC 4559, NGC 4565, NGC 4725/16

The following photos were taken with the eVscope:


NGC 4298/4302 (Holm 377)	NGC 4394 (left of M 85)	NGC 4559

NGC 4565	NGC 4725 (with NGC 4712)

Large-FOV Photos

The following rich-field photo was taken with the ZWO ASI294 camera at the PS 72/432 refractor (field of view 2.5° x 1.7°; controlled by StellarMate; AZ-GTi mount). Details of the galaxies are hardly visible on the photo, but many other smaller galaxies are.

Note: It is quite instructive to display the large versions of a photo (photo and analysis with nova.astrometry.net) side by side in tabs in the Web browser. Then you can switch between the tabs and thus "turn on and off" the captions.

M 99, NGC 4298/4302


M 99 + NGC 4298/4302 - Apr 28, 2022, processed		M 99 + NGC 4298/4302 - Apr 28, 2022, processed, evaluation with nova.astrometry.net

Larger galaxies: M 99, NGC 4222, NGC 4237, NGC 4262, NGC 4298, NGC 4302

NGC 4489 and Coma Galaxy Cluster

The following photo was taken with the Vespera (1.6° x 0.8°).


NGC 4889, Aug 20 2022 - original (89 frames = 890 seconds)		NGC 4889, Aug 20, 2022 - original, processed (89 frames = 890 seconds)

NGC 4889 (upper left) and NGC 4874 (lower right) marked		Evaluation* with nova.astrometry.net - large

*) Partly hard to decipher...