Star profile

Gamma Comae Berenices

3D likeness based on its real data · class K · ~4,200 K

What is Gamma Comae Berenices

Gamma Comae Berenices appears within the Coma Star Cluster — Melotte 111 — yet does not belong to it: an aged orange giant that only shares a line of sight with that drift of young, blue stars. At 167 light-years, twelve times the Sun's radius, sixty times its light, it gains presence by contrast with its accidental neighbours. Arab astronomers called it Al Ḍafīrah, the Lock of Hair.

Where it is and when to see it

Gamma Comae Berenices lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is March, when it culminates around midnight.

From London it culminates about 67° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 78° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 28° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 62° S.

It ranks no. 3 in brightness among the 39 stars of Coma Berenices in our catalogue. To find it, start from Beta Comae Berenices, the brightest: it lies about 10° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 170 years ago.

Find it on the sky map

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Leave your signature on Gamma Comae Berenices

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A public signature from a real person. The chosen name is a symbolic denomination within Stelvia, with no official standing or IAU recognition: the sky is not for sale and belongs to no one.

Astronomical data for Gamma Comae Berenices

Constellation: Coma Berenices
Apparent magnitude: 4.35
Distance: 167.3 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 186.734° · Dec 28.268°
Catalogue: HIP 60742 · HD 108381

A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.

Other stars in Coma Berenices

Coma Berenices has 39 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 39 stars in Coma Berenices