Star Hopping From the Big Dipper Asterism Leads to Coma Berenices

Summary: Star hopping from the Big Dipper asterism leads to Coma Berenices the Hair of Berenice constellation, which lies between Bootes and Leo.

Star hopping from two diagonal stars, Dubhe and Phecda, in the Big Dipper asterism’s bowl leads to Gamma Comae Berenices, third brightest star in Comae Berenices the Hair of Berenice constellation: Learn to Skywatch @Learntoskywatch, via Twitter April 3, 2016

Star hopping from the Big Dipper asterism leads to Coma Berenices the Hair of Berenice, a constellation neighbored distinctively by Bootes the Herdsman and Leo the Lion constellations.

Ursa Major the Greater Bear constellation’s Big Dipper displays as one of nighttime’s most easily identified asterisms (Ancient Greek: ἀστερισμός, asterismós, “group of stars”). The recognizable pattern of stars offers entire visibility in the Northern Hemisphere. Entire visibility of the Big Dipper occurs in the Southern Hemisphere at locations north of 25 degrees south latitude.

The prominent visibility of Ursa Major the Greater Bear constellation’s Big Dipper asterism in Northern Hemisphere skies encourages the technique of star hopping to find the night’s asterisms (recognizable patterns of stars), constellations and even telescopic objects. Space.com Skywatching columnist Joe Rao notes that entire visibility of the Big Dipper in the Southern Hemisphere occurs north of 25 degrees south latitude.

The Big Dipper asterism comprises seven stars. Three stars represent the asterism’s handle. Four stars depict the dipper’s bowl.

The two stars marking the front, or outer, edge of the Big Dipper’s bowl are known as pointer stars. The nickname of Pointers honors Dubhe (Alpha Ursae Majoris) and Merak (Beta Ursae Majoris) for star hopping to the current northern pole star, Polaris (Alpha Ursae Minoris). Polaris is located in Ursa Minor the Lesser Bear constellation.

Besides Polaris, the Pointers also star hop to other stars as well as to other asterisms, constellations and even binocular and telescopic objects. The Big Dipper’s star hopping is not restricted to the pairing of Dubhe and Merak. The Big Dipper’s prominence in night skies encourages star hopping via the asterism’s variously angled stars.

Dubhe (Alpha Ursae Majoris, α Ursae Majoris; Alpha UMa, α UMa) marks the meeting point of the bowl’s outer rim with the front, or outer side. The second magnitude star is the second most luminous star in the Big Dipper asterism and in Ursa Major the Greater Bear constellation.

Phecda (Gamma Ursae Majoris, γ Ursae Majoris; Gamma UMa, γ UMa) lies diagonally from Dubhe. Phecda is placed at the point where the bottom of the bowl meets the inner, or back, side. The second magnitude star shines as the sixth brightest star in both the Big Dipper asterism and the Greater Bear constellation.

An imaginary line starting at Dubhe and continuing through and beyond Phecda leads to the triangle, or open folding hand fan, formed by the three brightest stars in constellation Coma Berenices. The imaginary line reaches the triangle’s apex, also seen as the folding fan’s head.

The diagonal star hop from Dubhe and Phecda in the Big Dipper ends at Beta Comae Berenices (β Comae Berenices; Beta Com, β Com). The fourth magnitude star shines as the constellation’s brightest star. University of Illinois Professor Emeritus James B. “Jim” Kaler notes that a suggested, unconfirmed companion for Beta Com is “probably unlikely.” Beta Com has no proper name.

Gamma Comae Berenices (γ Comae Berenices; Gamma Com, γ Com) marks the vertex that points toward the Sickle asterism in Leo the Lion constellation, the western neighbor of constellation Coma Berenices. The fourth magnitude, single star ranks as the third most luminous star in Coma Berenices.

Alpha Comae Berenices (α Comae Berenices, abbreviated Alf Com, α Com) anchors the vertex pointing toward Virgo the Virgin, Coma Berenices’ southern neighbor. The fourth magnitude star rates as the second brightest star in constellation Coma Berenices.

Of the three brightest stars in Coma Berenices, only Alpha Comae Berenices has a known companion. The binary star’s components are designated as Alpha Comae Berenices A and Alpha Comae Berenices B.

Alpha Com A is associated with the crown worn by Queen Berenice II of Egypt (ca. 267-221 BCE), the constellation’s namesake. On Feb. 1, 2017, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) approved Diadem as the official proper name of component Alpha Comae Berenices A.

The takeaway for star hopping from the Big Dipper asterism to Coma Berenices constellation is that the extension of an imaginary diagonal line between Dubhe and Phecda in the Big Dipper leads to the three brightest stars in Berenice’s Hair constellation.

Coma Berenices the Hair of Berenice constellation (lower right) with neighboring constellations Bootes the Herdsman (left) and Canes Venatici the Hunting Dogs (center), as depicted by British cartographer and engraver Sidney Hall (1788-1831) in Urania’s Mirror (1825), a set of 32 astronomical star chart cards: U.S. Library of Congress, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Star hopping from two diagonal stars, Dubhe and Phecda, in the Big Dipper asterism’s bowl leads to Gamma Comae Berenices, third brightest star in Comae Berenices the Hair of Berenice constellation: Learn to Skywatch @Learntoskywatch, via Twitter April 3, 2016, @ https://twitter.com/Learntoskywatch/status/716686921892818944

Coma Berenices the Hair of Berenice constellation (lower right) with neighboring constellations Bootes the Herdsman (left) and Canes Venatici the Hunting Dogs (center), as depicted by British cartographer and engraver Sidney Hall (1788-1831) in Urania’s Mirror (1825), a set of 32 astronomical star chart cards: U.S. Library of Congress, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sidney_Hall_-_Urania's_Mirror_-_Bootes,_Canes_Venatici,_Coma_Berenices,_and_Quadrans_Muralis.jpg; No known restrictions on publication in the U.S., via Library of Congress (LOC) Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC) @ https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2002695521/

For further information:

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Available @ http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/dubhe.html

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Available @ http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/merak.html

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Available @ http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/phecda.html

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