Coma Berenices on Mercator’s globe
The Dutch cartographer Gerardus Mercator (1512–94) depicted Coma Berenices under the name Cincinnus, a Latin word meaning lock of hair, on a celestial globe he made in 1551. He also added the alternative names Cesaries (a Latin word referring to a head of hair, particularly long and flowing); πλόκαμος (Plokamos, the name used by Ptolemy); Berenicis crinis; and Trica.
In Mercator’s representation the three ‘unformed’ stars catalogued by Ptolemy from which the constellation was created lie on the rim of the headband. At right, Boötes is shown under the Latin name Bubulcus. Because this is a depiction on a globe, the constellations are shown as mirror images from the way they appear appear from Earth.
(Image: Harvard Map Collection)
