- This article is about the cluster of galaxies named the Coma Cluster. For the star cluster, see Coma star cluster.
A Sloan Digital Sky Survey/Spitzer Space Telescope image |
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| Observation data (Epoch J2000) |
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|---|---|
| Constellation(s): | Coma Berenices |
| Right ascension: | 12h 59m 49s[1] |
| Declination: | +27° 58′ 50″[1] |
| Number of galaxies: | 484[1] |
| Brightest member: | |
| Other designations | |
| Abell 1656[1] | |
| See also: Galaxy groups and clusters, List of galaxy clusters |
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The Coma Cluster (Abell 1656) is a large cluster of galaxies that contains over 1,000 identified galaxies. Along with the Leo Cluster (Abell 1367), it is one of the two major clusters comprising the Coma Supercluster.[1] The cluster's mean distance from Earth is 99 Mpc (321 million light years).[2] Its ten brightest spiral galaxies have apparent magnitudes of 12–14 that are observable with amateur telescopes larger than 20 cm. The central region is dominated by two giant elliptical galaxies: NGC 4874 and NGC 4889.[3] The cluster is within a few degrees of the north galactic pole on the sky.
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Cluster members
As is usual for clusters of this richness, the galaxies are overwhelmingly elliptical and S0 galaxies, with only a few spirals of younger age, and many of them probably near the outskirts of the cluster. The full extent of the cluster was not understood until it was more thoroughly studied in the 1950s by astronomers at Mount Palomar Observatory, although many of the individual galaxies in the cluster had been identified previously.
See also
- Fornax Cluster - another nearby cluster of galaxies
- Virgo Cluster - another nearby cluster of galaxies
External links
References
- ^ a b c d NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. Results for Abell 1656. Retrieved on 2006-09-19.
- ^ Colless, M (2001). "Coma Cluster". Encyclopedia of Astronomy and Astrophysics. Ed. P Murdin. Bristol Institute of Physics publishing. Retrieved on 2006-10-08.
- ^ Conselice, Christopher J., Gallagher, John S., III (1998). "Galaxy aggregates in the Coma cluster". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 297: L34-L38.
