Cancer (constellation)



In astronomy and astrology,                         Cancer
Cancer, the crab, is one of the
twelve constellations of the
zodiac. Cancer is small and dim,
and to many it does not resemble a
crab. It lies between Gemini to    Abbreviation            Cnc
the west and Leo to the east, Lynx Genitive                Cancri
to the north and Canis Minor and   Meaning in English      the Crab
Hydra to the south.
                                   Right ascension         9 h
                                   Declination             20¡

                                   Visible to latitude     Between 90¡ and -60¡
                                   Best visible            March

                                   Area                    Ranked 31st
                                   Ê- Total                506 sq. deg.
                                   Number of stars with
Notable features                   apparent magnitude < 3  0

The brightest star in Cancer is    Brightest star          Al Tarf (β
β Cancri, called Al Tarf      Ê- Apparent magnitude   Cnc)
                                                           3,5
("the end" of the crab's leg).
Other stars include Acubens        Meteor showers             * Delta
(α), and the Aselli (the                                  Cancrids
Asses), Asellus Borealis (γ)                            * Lynx
and Australis (δ), supposed
to represent the asses that        Bordering                  * Gemini
Dionysus and Silenus rode into     constellations             * Canis Minor
battle.                                                       * Hydra
                                                              * Leo

55 Cancri has a planetary system with two confirmed planets, one 0.84 times
the mass of Jupiter and one possibly 5 times that mass.

Notable deep sky objects

Cancer is best noted among stargazers as the home of Praesepe (M44), an open
cluster also called the Beehive Cluster or the Gate of Men, which contains
the star η Cancri.

Another deep sky object M67, near Acubens (α Cnc), is one of the
oldest clusters in the sky, more than 10 billion years old. It is a large,
faint open cluster of about 100 stars.

Mythology

In Greek mythology, Cancer was a brave little crab who tried to stop
Heracles from defeating the Lernaean Hydra and was squashed for his efforts.

Astrology

The astrological sign Cancer (June 21 - July 22) is associated with the
constellation. In some cosmologies, Cancer is associated with the classical
element Water, and thus called a Water Sign (with Scorpio and Pisces). Its
polar opposite is Capricorn.

In the 1970s there was a proposal to rename the zodiac sign, as some
astrologers felt that an imagined association with the disease Cancer was
off-putting. Some people with the sun sign of Cancer refer to themselves as
moon children instead (the sign is associated with the Moon in astrology).

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