Constellations · Constellation · Cancri · Cnc
Constellation
Cancer
The crab Hera sent to nip Hercules’ heel while he fought the Hydra. Faint, but it holds a swarm of stars the ancients called the Manger.
- Genitive
- Cancri
- Area
- 506 square degrees · 31st of 88
- Brightest star
- Tarf · magnitude 3.53
- Naked-eye stars
- 102 brighter than magnitude 6.5
- Highest at midnight
- late January
Look for
The Beehive, Praesepe, is a misty patch to the naked eye and a spray of stars in binoculars. Galileo counted 40 of them with his first telescope.
History
The two stars beside it, Asellus Borealis and Asellus Australis, are the donkeys feeding at the manger. When the Beehive faded from view, Greek farmers expected rain.
Did you know
The Tropic of Cancer is named because the Sun stood here at the June solstice two thousand years ago; it is now in Taurus.