Cancer constellation is located in the northern sky. Its name means “the crab” in Latin.
Cancer is the faintest of the 12 zodiac constellations. Its symbol is . The constellation was first catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century.
Cancer contains a number of famous deep sky objects, among them the open cluster Praesepe, also known as the Beehive Cluster (Messier 44), the open cluster Messier 67, and the interacting spiral galaxies NGC 2535 and NGC 2536.
FACTS, LOCATION & MAP
Cancer is the 31st largest constellation in the sky, occupying an area of 506 square degrees. It lies in the second quadrant of the northern hemisphere (NQ2) and can be seen at latitudes between +90° and -60°. The neighboring constellations are Canis Minor, Gemini, Hydra, Leo, Leo Minor, and Lynx.
Cancer belongs to the Zodiac family of constellations, along with Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpius, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius, and Pisces.
Cancer contains two Messier objects – the Beehive Cluster (M44, NGC 2632) and M67 (NGC 2682) – and has two stars with known planets. The brightest star in the constellation is Al Tarf, Beta Cancri. The Delta Cancrids are the only meteor shower associated with the constellation.
MYTH
In mythology, Cancer is associated with the crab in the story of the Twelve Labours of Heracles (represented by the Hercules constellation). In the myth, Hera sends the crab to distract Hercules while the hero is fighting the Lernaean Hydra, the serpent-like beast with many heads and poisonous breath, represented by Hydra constellation. When the crab tries to kill Hercules, Hercules kicks it all the way to the stars.
In another version, the crab gets crushed instead and Hera, a sworn enemy of Hercules, places it in the sky for its efforts. However, she places the crab in a region of the sky that has no bright stars, because despite its efforts, the crab was not successful in accomplishing the task. Cancer does not have any stars brighter than fourth magnitude.
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