Constellation Data

Name: CANCER Translation: Crab Abbreviation: Cnc Genitive: Cancri Size: 31 Regions: Zodiac RA: 9 hours Decl: +20 degrees Season: Winter Midnight Culmination: 30 January Pages where CANCER is discussed in Chet Raymo's 365 Starry Nights: 39-47,50

What is the Genitive form? What is Right Ascension (RA)? Is this constellation ever visible from my latitude? What is Declination? Where should I look for a constellation on a date before or after its midnight culmination? What is Midnight Culmination?

Skylore

Sent by Juno to kill Hercules, who squashed it with his foot.

Description

A faint constellation between Gemini and Leo.htm">Leo.

Legend: In the constellation chart above...
• Star colors represent their spectral types (even for double stars).
• Bright star labels are yellow; significant other stars are labelled in magenta.
• The size of each star indicates its relative magnitude.
• Constellation names are light blue.
• Grid lines represent either 10 degree intervals of declination above or below the equator, or intervals of one hour (=15 degrees) of right ascension (measured along the equator).
• Messier object numbers are pink.
• Galaxies are ovals: blue if spiral, yellow if elliptical, light blue if irregular.
• Globular clusters are gold starbursts.
• Open clusters are dotted white circles.
• Planetary nebula are green diamonds.
• Bright nebula are magenta squares.
• Dark nebula are grey rectangles.
• Green x's are x-ray sources.
• Purple O's with a diagonal slash through them are quasars.

Asterisms

Asses and the Manger

What is an Asterism?

Star Clusters

M44, Praesepe or Beehive (Galactic cluster), mag. 3.9.

M67 (Galactic cluster), mag. 6.1.

What are Star Clusters?

Galaxies

Look with binoculars for the Beehive star cluster, faintly visible to the naked eye.

What are Galaxies?
Table of Messier Objects.
What is apparent Magnitude?

Discussed in these Shows

©1997 Welcome to the Basic Celestial Phenomena web site. To provide explanations of basic observational astronomy to students, teachers, families, and visitors to planetariums these pages have been written by an ex-OBU Planetarium Director, Kerry Magruder; the OBU Natural Sciences Coordinator, Mike Keas; and some of the students who work in the OBU planetarium.

The source for the logo is not a medieval woodcut!

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