This constellation is named after Berenice, wife of Egyptian King Ptolemy III. Berenice was fearful that her Husband would not return from battle and so pledged to cut off her beautiful hair if he returned home safely. He did return safely, and she did cut off her hair. True Story. Apart from the hair supposedly was put in the sky by a God.

This constellation can be quite hard to see as the stars are not very bright. However when you do find it with a telescope you will be well rewarded with wonderful sights.

There is a nice globular cluster M53 to find close to the alpha star.

M64 the Blackey Galaxy is an interesting view in a 6 inch or larger telescope. Due to a dark dust lane that overlays the central region of the galaxy, the galaxy resembles a black eye.

The most outstanding feature of this constellation however is the large number of galaxies that can seen. They are the top part of what is known as the Virgo cluster. The Virgo cluster has hundreds of galaxies, the majority of which are 65 million light years away. Look to the lower right of Coma Berenices, to find these galaxies, many of which are in the Messier Catalogue.

I think you will agree that this is quite a remarkable constellation for its size.