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Canes Venatici is one of the 88 constellations designated by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). It is a small northern constellation that was created by Johannes Hevelius in the 17th century. Its name is Latin for 'hunting dogs', and the constellation is often depicted in illustrations as representing the dogs of Boötes the Herdsman, a neighboring constellation.
Coma Berenices is an ancient asterism in the northern sky, which has been defined as one of the 88 modern constellations. It is in the direction of the fourth galactic quadrant, between Leo and Boötes, and it is visible in both hemispheres. Its name means "Berenice's Hair" in Latin and refers to Queen Berenice II of Egypt, who sacrificed her long hair as a votive offering. It was introduced to Western astronomy during the third century BC by Conon of Samos and was further corroborated as a constellation by Gerardus Mercator and Tycho Brahe. It is the only modern constellation named after a historic person.
Alpha Comae Berenices is a binary star in the constellation of Coma Berenices, 17.8 parsecs (58 ly) away. It consists of two main sequence stars, each a little hotter and more luminous than the Sun.
The Coma Star Cluster is a nearby open cluster located in the constellation Coma Berenices. The cluster contains about 40 brighter stars with a common proper motion. The brighter stars of the cluster make out a distinctive "V" shape as seen when Coma Berenices is rising. The cluster used to represent the tail of Leo. However, in around 240 BC, Ptolemy III renamed it for the Egyptian queen Berenice's legendary sacrifice of her hair.
Coma Berenices or Com is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy situated in the Coma Berenices constellation and discovered in 2006 in data obtained by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The galaxy is located at the distance of about 44 kpc from the Sun and moves away from the Sun with the velocity of about 98 km/s. It is classified as a dwarf spheroidal galaxy (dSph) meaning that it has an elliptical shape with the half-light radius of about 70 pc.
The modern constellation Coma Berenices lies across one of the quadrants symbolized by the Azure Dragon of the East, and Three Enclosures, that divide the sky in traditional Chinese uranography.
12 Comae Berenices is a binary star system in the northern constellation of Coma Berenices. It is the brightest member of the Coma Star Cluster and is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 4.80. Although listed as a suspected variable star, there is no photometric evidence of it being variable in luminosity. However, the radial velocity was found to be variable, as announced by W. W. Campbell in 1910. The first orbital solution was published by Vinter Hansen in the 1940s. It is a double-lined spectroscopic binary with an orbital period of 396.5 days and an eccentricity of 0.566.
31 Comae Berenices is a yellow giant star in the constellation Coma Berenices. Its apparent magnitude is about 4.9 and slightly variable. It is a rare FK Comae Berenices variable, a variable star that spins rapidly and has large starspots on its surface. It is currently in the Hertzsprung gap and its outer envelope has just begun convection. In 1989 it was given as a spectral standard for the class G0IIIp.
13 Comae Berenices is a probable binary star system in the northern constellation of Coma Berenices. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 5.17, which is bright enough to be faintly visible to the naked eye. With an annual parallax shift of 12.33 mas, it is located around 260 light years from the Sun. It is member of the nearby Coma Star Cluster.
21 Comae Berenices is a variable star in the northern constellation of Coma Berenices. It has the variable star designation UU Comae Berenices, while 21 Comae Berenices is the Flamsteed designation.
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