Coma Galaxy Cluster
The Coma Cluster is listed in the Abell Catalogue as 1656. Right ascension 12h 59m 48.7s Declination +27° 58′ 50″. Its a large cluster of over 1,000 identified galaxies. Along with the Leo Cluster (Abell 1367), it is one of the two major clusters comprising the Coma Supercluster.
It is located in the constellation Coma Berenices. Therefore taking its name from this constellation.
The cluster's mean distance from Earth is 99 Mpc (parsec, astronomical unit of length used to measure distances to objects outside the Solar System), 321 million light-years. While Contact Report 428, explains that The Bardans 3 United worlds that now form part of the Plejaren Federation following the sequence of events that have come to be known as the Tunguska event in Siberia (Earth), are located in one of these Galaxies, but at a slightly greater distance of 400 million light-years distant. Possibly resulting in it being one of the S0 lenticular types of galaxy. Though unfortunatly no further information is available for The Bardan systems. We can however safely conclude they have developed the technological means necessary to traverse these tremendous distances, which in turn allows us to assimilate (sociology) qualitatively any number of other things too.
There is an interesting yet somewhat unclear link between a historical Mongolian named Berenice Dessa, Constellation Coma Berenices, and the Coma Galaxy Cluster specifically from which The Bardan are said to originate and are said to have mongoloid characteristics.
Coma Berenices Constallation
Coma Berenices, in Greek, via Latin means Berenice's Hair referring to the legend of Queen Berenice II of Egypt, who sacrificed her long hair. Its a traditional asterism (pattern of stars recognized in Earth's night sky) that has since been defined as one of the 88 modern constellations.
It is located near Leo, to which it formerly belonged, and accommodates the North Galactic Pole. Leo is incidentally one of the most easily recognizable constallations of the zodiac, lying between Cancer to the west and Virgo to the east, due to its many bright stars and a distinctive shape that is reminiscent of the crouching lion it depicts (Leo is latin for Lion). The lion's mane and shoulders also form an asterism (pattern of stars recognized in Earth's night sky) known as the Sickle.
In Chinese astronomy, the stars of Coma Berenices are located in two areas. The Supreme Palace enclosure (太微垣, Tài Wēi Yuán) (Leo, Virgo, Coma Berenices) visible during spring in the Northern Hemisphere (autumn in the Southern) and the Azure Dragon of the East (東方青龍, Dōng Fāng Qīng Lóng), Green Dragon and Avalon Dragon though not to be confused with the mythological yellow dragon that is associated with the Emperor of China.
The Polynesian people of Pukapuka (Cook Islands) likely called it Te Yiku-o-te-kiole. While the people of Tonga (archipelago stretching over about 500 miles in a north-south line about a third of the distance from New Zealand to Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean) had three different names for the Coma Berenices Constallation, Fatana-lua, Fata-olunga (also Fata-lalo), and Kapakau-o-Tafahi.
The Abell Catalogue
The Abell catalogue is an almost complete catalogue of approximately 4,000 galaxy clusters with at least 30 members to a redshift of z= 0.2. It was originally compiled by George O. Abell in 1958 using the plates of POSS (Palomar Observatory Sky Survey, a major photographic survey of the night sky, completed at Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California in 1958.
It was extended to the southern hemisphere by Abell, Corwin and Olowin in 1987. The name 'Abell' is also commonly used as a designation for objects in a catalog compiled in 1966 with 86 planetary nebulae. The proper designation for the galaxy clusters is 'ACO'. Where the planetary nebulae designation is the single letter 'A'.
