Mellotte 111 or Queen Berenices Hair

Central area of Mellotte 111 - Altair Astro 66 mm refractor with 0.6x focal reducer and field flattener on a Star Adventurer equatorial mount. Canon 600d DSLR at f=240mm. 60x60sec lights at ISO1600. Credit Pip Stakkert.

Plate solver Credit: Astrometry net

" Because the East Coast benefits from clear dark skies we were able to see the large but faint open star cluster Melotte 111 in the constellation Coma Berenices. Coma Berenices is a very nondescript constellation that is located next to the much more recognisable Leo Major. In mythology the open star cluster Mellotte 111 represents the curly locks of hair of Queen Berenice who cut them off to celebrate the gods and the safe return of her husband from the heat of battle. The cluster has been known since ancient times when Ptolemy catalogued it in his Almagest. The cluster covers an area of sky roughly equal to 7.5 degrees and is therefore much larger than the limits of the above widefield telescopic image. As a very large celestial object,it is absolutely stunning when viewed with binoculars. The north galactic pole (the direction of the axis of rotation of our galaxy) lies in this constellation so the above view is straight out into deepest space and away from obscuring dust. If you look closely at the above image you might be able to detect some of the many galaxies that are located in Coma Berenices. Mellotte 111 is approximately 280 light years distant and is 450 million years old". - Kurt Thrust acting CEO and current Director of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

The area tinted green on the inverted (right hand side) binocular view of Mellotte 111 represents the area covered by the above telescopic image