Melotte 111

Hi all

Took advantage of some clear skies last night to grab Melotte 111, the Coma Star Cluster.  The seeing conditions and the transparency were not the greatest,

Hope you like it.

Melotte 111 by pbyrne1965 , on Flickr

While roaming the skies, Arcturus was rising above the neighbour's house and when I scanned up I came across a fuzzy patch I identified as M3.  Despite the far from ideal seeing and the light pollution, this globular showed up really well sitting next to a stellar companion.

Paul

One of my favourite objects in the night sky, and strangely under-rated I often think... why it does not have a more 'historic' name than that given by Mr Melotte in 1915 seems hard to credit.

Clear skies,
Finbarr.

My own theory, Finbarr, is that if an object does not have an M or NGC designation, then it is assumed to be a small or obscure object and not worthy of observation.

That is probably true Paul, but I'm wondering why it did not gain a popular name over the centuries. From dark rural skies it really grabs your attention, especially with averted vision. It reminds me of a Northern version of the Magellanic clouds, based on photos of those objects I've seen. Being widely dispersed, it is more striking with the naked eye than with instruments.

Clear skies,
Finbarr.

Hello Paul. 

It's always with great joy to see any sketch of Melotte 111, 
This open star cluster fits very nicely with my small William Optics 158mm f/6 apochromatic refractor. With a 2" 28mm eyepiece which gives 6 degrees field of view and 11x I can see plenty of stars. 
Melotte 111 also reminds me that we are now in the season of Spring. 

Very best regards from Aubrey. 

 

The same could be said for the Alpha Persei Cluster, Finbarr, it has both  a Melotte and Collander designation, yet it too seems to have been overlooked for a proper name.  Maybe we should suggest some names.

Paul