Star Points for April, 2000; by Curtis Roelle Spring's Mythical and Historical Ladies. Springtime is a time of new growth and finds nature renewing itself. The trees are budding, grasses are coming to life, and planting season has commenced. To many ancient cultures of old fertility deities appeared exclusively in the feminine form. The classic example is that of the figure represented by the constellation Virgo. Virgo is often depicted as a woman carrying a sheaf of wheat or barley in one hand and sometimes a palm branch or staff in the other. She represents the distillation of fertility figures from numerous cultures and has gone by various names including Persephone, Proserpina, Demeter, and Arista just to name a few. In essence Virgo is the great mother of all things living and was invented at a time when societies were predominately matriarchal. When you see her in the sky however it is difficult to visualize how the collection of her scattered stars represents a human figure. Virgo's brightest star is the first magnitude Spica. Finding Spica takes two steps. First, follow the curve of the handle of the "Big Dipper" asterism to the brilliant golden-yellow Arcturus. Then continue on from there to the bright white Spica. Arcturus is about twice as bright as Spica. Virgo is home to a supercluster of galaxies of which our home galaxy the "Milky Way" is a member. A supercluster is simply a cluster of galaxy clusters. The Milky Way is a member of a cluster of nearby galaxies known by the unimaginatively as the "local group." The local group is in turn a member of the Virgo supercluster. The galaxies in Virgo require optical aid to see. If you attended the Westminster Astronomical Society's Messier Marathon all night star party at Bear Branch Nature Center on April 1 you may have become acquainted with several of these galaxies either at the eyepiece of a telescope or in the nature center's planetarium. Whereas Virgo is a stellar representation of a mythological proportions there exists another constellation of Spring based on an actual historical figure. Coma Berenices is lesser known than nearby Virgo and this is probably because she does not have any 1st magnitude stars and is not located along the Ecliptic, the Sun's yearly path, and thus lacks any astrological significance for the superstitious. Berniece was the daughter of Maga, the king of Cyrene. In 247 B.C. she married Egypt's pharaoh, Ptolemy III. Berniece was renowned for her beauty but in North Africa she was particularly known for her long amber-blond hair. After two blissful years together Ptolemy went to war as Egypt clashed with Syria. Fearing the safety of her husband, with whom she was deeply in love, Berniece visited the temple of Venus-Arsinoe at Zephyrium where she pledged to give up her tresses if Ptolemy returned both unharmed and in victory. When Ptolemy returned from his successful campaign Berniece had her hair cut off and placed it on the temple's altar. Not long after that the hair display disappeared. This apparent theft enraged Ptolemy and Berniece and alarmed the temple priests. All was made well when an astronomer, Conon of Samos, stepped in and explained that Venus had been so pleased with the offering that she had transformed the hair of the queen into a splash of stars. He marked the location on a celestial globe and when the people looked up they observed what is now known as the constellation Coma Berenices, or Berniece's hair. The constellation features a large naked eye star cluster that is easily seen when away from city lights. The Coma star cluster may be found just above the constellation Leo the Lion (Star Points April, 1999). One can easily visualize the cluster forming the puffy tuft of hair at the end of Leo's tail. The cluster has about 30 stars and is also known by the catalog name "Melotte 111." The best way to see this cluster of stars -- which is as broad as ten full moons side-by-side -- is with a pair of wide field binoculars.