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Coma Berenices (constellation)
Coma Berenices is an ancient asterism (astronomy), asterism in the Northern celestial hemisphere, northern sky, which has been defined as one of the IAU designated constellations, 88 modern constellations. It is in the direction of the fourth galactic quadrant, between Leo (constellation), 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 88 modern constellations, modern constellation named after a historic person. The constellation's major stars are Alpha Comae Berenices, Alpha, Beta Comae Berenices, Beta, and Gamma Comae Berenices. They form a half square, along the diagonal of which run Berenice's imaginary tresses, formed by the Coma Star Cluster. The c ...
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Berenice II Of Egypt
Berenice II Euergetis (267 or 266 – 221 BCE; , ''Berenikē Euergetis'', "Berenice the Benefactress") was queen regnant of Cyrenaica from 258 to 246 BCE and queen of Ptolemaic Egypt from 246 to 222 BCE as the wife of Ptolemy III Euergetes, Ptolemy III. She is sometimes considered co-regent of her Ptolemaic husband. She married Demetrius the Fair, thus giving him the throne of Cyrenaica, on the death of her father Magas of Cyrene, Magas in 250/249 BCE. After a short power struggle with her mother, Berenice married her half-cousin Ptolemy III, the third ruler of the Ptolemaic kingdom. This marriage led to the re-incorporation of Cyrenaica into the Ptolemaic empire. As queen of Egypt, Berenice participated actively in government, was incorporated into the Ptolemaic state cult alongside her husband and worshipped as a goddess in her own right. She is best known for sacrificing her hair as a votive offering, which led to the constellation Coma Berenices being named after her. Berenice ...
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Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area around Rome, Italy. Through the expansion of the Roman Republic, it became the dominant language in the Italian Peninsula and subsequently throughout the Roman Empire. It has greatly influenced many languages, Latin influence in English, including English, having contributed List of Latin words with English derivatives, many words to the English lexicon, particularly after the Christianity in Anglo-Saxon England, Christianization of the Anglo-Saxons and the Norman Conquest. Latin Root (linguistics), roots appear frequently in the technical vocabulary used by fields such as theology, List of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names, the sciences, List of medical roots, suffixes and prefixes, medicine, and List of Latin legal terms ...
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North Galactic Pole
The galactic coordinate system is a celestial coordinate system in spherical coordinates, with the Sun as its center, the primary direction aligned with the approximate center of the Milky Way Galaxy, and the fundamental plane (spherical coordinates), fundamental plane parallel to an approximation of the galactic plane but offset to its north. It uses the Right-hand rule, right-handed convention, meaning that coordinates are positive toward the north and toward the east in the fundamental plane (spherical coordinates), fundamental plane. Spherical coordinates Galactic longitude Longitude (symbol ) measures the angle, angular distance of an object eastward along the galactic equator from the Galactic Center. Analogous to terrestrial longitude, galactic longitude is usually measured in degrees (°). Galactic latitude Latitude (symbol ) measures the angle of an object northward of the galactic equator (or midplane) as viewed from Earth. Analogous to terrestrial latitude, gala ...
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Main Sequence
In astronomy, the main sequence is a classification of stars which appear on plots of stellar color index, color versus absolute magnitude, brightness as a continuous and distinctive band. Stars on this band are known as main-sequence stars or dwarf stars, and positions of stars on and off the band are believed to indicate their physical properties, as well as their progress through several types of star life-cycles. These are the most numerous true stars in the universe and include the Sun. Color-magnitude plots are known as Hertzsprung–Russell diagrams after Ejnar Hertzsprung and Henry Norris Russell. After condensation and ignition of a star, it generates thermal energy in its dense stellar core, core region through nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium. During this stage of the star's lifetime, it is located on the main sequence at a position determined primarily by its mass but also based on its chemical composition and age. The cores of main-sequence stars are in hydros ...
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Apparent Magnitude
Apparent magnitude () is a measure of the Irradiance, brightness of a star, astronomical object or other celestial objects like artificial satellites. Its value depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance, and any extinction (astronomy), extinction of the object's light caused by interstellar dust along the sightline, line of sight to the observer. Unless stated otherwise, the word ''magnitude'' in astronomy usually refers to a celestial object's apparent magnitude. The magnitude scale likely dates to before the ancient Ancient Greek astronomy#Astronomy in the Greco-Roman and Late Antique eras, Roman astronomer Ptolemy, Claudius Ptolemy, whose Star catalogue, star catalog popularized the system by listing stars from First-magnitude star, 1st magnitude (brightest) to 6th magnitude (dimmest). The modern scale was mathematically defined to closely match this historical system by Norman Robert Pogson, Norman Pogson in 1856. The scale is reverse logarithmic scale, logarithmic: ...
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Coma Star Cluster
The Coma Star Cluster (also known as Melotte 111 or Collinder 256) is a nearby open cluster located in the constellation Coma Berenices. The cluster contains about 40 brighter stars (between magnitudes 5 and 10) 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. The ''Hipparcos'' satellite and infrared color-magnitude diagram fitting have been used to establish a distance to the cluster's center of approximately . The distance established via the independent analyses agree, thereby making the cluster an important rung on the cosmic distance ladder. The open cluster is roughly twice as distant as the Hyades and covers an area of more than 7.5 degrees on the sky. The cluster is approximately 450 million years old. See also * Al ...
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Gamma Comae Berenices
Gamma Comae Berenices, Latinized from γ Comae Berenices, is a single, orange-hued star in the northern constellation of Coma Berenices. It is faintly visible to the naked eye, having an apparent visual magnitude of 4.36. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 19.50  mas as seen from Earth, its distance can be estimated as around 167 light years from the Sun. The star is moving away from the Sun with a radial velocity of +3 km/s. This is an evolved K-type giant star with a stellar classification of . The suffix notation indicates the star displays an overabundance of iron in its spectrum. It is most likely (91% chance) on the horizontal branch with an age of 2.7 billion years. If this is true, then it has an estimated 1.65 times the mass of the Sun and has expanded to nearly 12 times the Sun's radius. The star is radiating 58 times the Sun's luminosity from its enlarged photosphere at an effective temperature of around 4,652 K. Gamma Comae Berenices ...
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Alpha Comae Berenices
Alpha Comae Berenices (α Comae Berenices, abbreviated Alpha Com, α Com) is a binary star in the constellation of Coma Berenices ( Berenice's Hair), away. It consists of two main sequence stars, each a little hotter and more luminous than the Sun. Alpha Comae Berenices is said to represent the crown worn by Queen Berenice. The two components are designated Alpha Comae Berenices A (officially named Diadem , the traditional name for the system) and B. Nomenclature ''α Comae Berenices'' ( Latinised to ''Alpha Comae Berenices'') is the system's Bayer designation. The designations of the two components as ''Alpha Comae Berenices A'' and ''B'' derive from the convention used by the Washington Multiplicity Catalog (WMC) for multiple star systems, and adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). The system bore the traditional names ''Diadem'' and ''Al Dafirah,'' the latter derived from the Arabic الضفيرة ''ađ̧-đ̧afīrah'' "the braid". In 2016, the ...
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John III Sobieski
John III Sobieski ( (); (); () 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696. Born into Polish nobility, Sobieski was educated at the Jagiellonian University and toured Europe in his youth. As a soldier and later commander, he fought in the Khmelnytsky Uprising, the Russo-Polish War (1654–1667), Russo-Polish War and during the Swedish invasion known as the Deluge (history), Deluge. Sobieski demonstrated his military prowess during the war against the Ottoman Empire and established himself as a leading figure in Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Poland and Lithuania. In 1674, he was elected monarch of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth following the sudden and unexpected death of Michael Korybut Wiśniowiecki, King Michael. Sobieski's 22-year reign marked a period of the Commonwealth's stabilization, much needed after the turmoil of previous conflicts. Popular among his subjects, he was an able military l ...
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Scutum (constellation)
Scutum is a small constellation. Its name is Latin for shield, and it was originally named Scutum Sobiescianum by Johannes Hevelius in 1684. Located just south of the celestial equator, its four brightest stars form a narrow diamond shape. It is one of the 88 IAU designated constellations defined in 1922. History Scutum was named in 1684 by Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius (Jan Heweliusz), who originally named it ''Scutum Sobiescianum'' (Shield of Sobieski) to commemorate the victory of the Christian forces led by Polish King John III Sobieski (Jan III Sobieski) in the Battle of Vienna in 1683. Later, the name was shortened to Scutum. Five bright stars of Scutum ( α Sct, β Sct, δ Sct, ε Sct and η Sct) were previously known as 1, 6, 2, 3, and 9 Aquilae respectively. The constellation of Scutum was adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1922 as one of the 88 constellations covering the entire sky, with the official abbreviation of "Sct". The constellatio ...
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88 Modern Constellations
In contemporary astronomy, 88 constellations are recognized by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Each constellation is a region of the sky bordered by arcs of right ascension and declination, together covering the entire celestial sphere. Their boundaries were officially adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1928 and published in 1930. The ancient Mesopotamians and later the Greek astronomy, Greeks established most of the northern constellations in international use today, listed by the Roman-Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy. The constellations along the ecliptic are called the zodiac. When explorers mapped the stars of the southern skies, European astronomers proposed new constellations for that region, as well as ones to fill gaps between the traditional constellations. Because of their Roman and European origins, every constellation has a Latin name. In 1922, the International Astronomical Union adopted three-letter abbreviations for 89 constellations, the m ...
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Tycho Brahe
Tycho Brahe ( ; ; born Tyge Ottesen Brahe, ; 14 December 154624 October 1601), generally called Tycho for short, was a Danish astronomer of the Renaissance, known for his comprehensive and unprecedentedly accurate astronomical observations. He was known during his lifetime as an astronomer, astrologer, and alchemist. He was the last major astronomer before the invention of the telescope. Tycho Brahe has also been described as the greatest pre-telescopic astronomer. In 1572, Tycho noticed a completely SN 1572, new star that was brighter than any star or planet. Astonished by the existence of a star that ought not to have been there, he devoted himself to the creation of ever more accurate instruments of measurement over the next fifteen years (1576–1591). Frederick II of Denmark, King Frederick II granted Tycho an estate on the island of Hven and the money to build Uraniborg, the first large observatory in Christian Europe. He later worked underground at Stjerneborg, where he ...
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