This smattering of celestial sequins is a spiral galaxy named NGC 4455, located in the northern constellation of Coma Berenices (Berenice's Hair). This might sound like an odd name for a constellation - and in fact it is somewhat unusual. It's the only modern constellation to be named in honor of a real person from history: Queen Berenice II of Egypt.

The story of Queen Berenice II is an interesting one. A ruling queen of the ancient Greek city of Cyrene in modern-day Libya, and later a queen of Ptolemaic Egypt through her marriage to her cousin Ptolemy III Euergetes, Berenice became known for sacrificing locks of her hair as an offering to ensure her husband's safe return from battle.

Her husband did indeed return safely, and her hair, which she had left in a Zephyrium temple, had disappeared - it had apparently been stolen and placed among the stars.

Should it be located in NGC 4455, it traveled a long way. The galaxy is about 45 million light-years away. This image was taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys.

Related Links
Hubble Space Telescope
Stellar Chemistry, The Universe And All Within It

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Hubble captures a dozen sunburst arc doppelgangers
Munich, Germany (SPX) Nov 08, 2019
Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have observed a galaxy in the distant regions of the Universe which appears duplicated at least 12 times on the night sky. This unique sight, created by strong gravitational lensing, helps astronomers get a better understanding of the cosmic era known as the epoch of reionisation. This new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows an astronomical object whose image is multiplied by the effect of strong gravitational lensing. The gala ... read more