Coma Berenices

Coma Berenices, sometimes called Berenice's Hair, is a small and faint constellation, north of Virgo and west of Bootes. Berenice was an Egyptian queen who sacrificed her hair to thank Venus for a victory her husband had won in a war. The hair was stolen from the temple but the priests in charge convinced the disconsolate queen that Zeus himself had taken the locks and put them in the sky as a constellation. Coma Berenices has only three 4th magnitude stars but is host to numerous galaxies. Although none can be seen in my photo below, there are many faint galaxies sprinkled about this region of the sky, most notable being the largest portion of the Virgo cluster, which lies in the lower right corner of this image.

Taken Sunday, June 10, 2012, with the D-90 and its 28 to 105 zoom lens set on 28mm. Exposure is 30 seconds with ISO 3200, using the C-5 telescope to track the stars. Although the elliptical shape of the stars appears to indicate poor tracking, I think that result is more likely due to the wind that was present at the time of the photo.