Acubens, also known as Alpha Cancri, is the fourth brightest star in Cancer and has an apparent magnitude that varies between 4.
It is located around light years away from Earth Sometimes, the star is also called Al Zubanah or Sertan. Acubens is a multiple star system, with its brightest component, Alpha Cancri A, a white A-type main sequence dwarf. It has a companion, Alpha Cancri B. Alpha Cancri belongs to the spectral class A5m and is 23 times brighter than the Sun.
It lies close to the ecliptic and can be occulted by the Moon and, rarely, by planets. Al Tarf, also known as Beta Cancri , is the brightest star in the constellation and has a magnitude of 3. It is located around light years away from us. It is a binary star system that consists of an orange K-type giant and a fourteenth magnitude companion 29 arc seconds away.
Asellus Australis, also known as Delta Cancri, is the second brightest star in the Cancer constellation and has an apparent magnitude of 3. It is located around light years away from us and lies close to the ecliptic, meaning it can be occulted by the Moon and, rarely, by planets.
Delta Cancri also marks the location of Praesepe Messier 44 , the famous open cluster, also known as the Beehive Cluster, which we will go into more detail about below.
The star is also known for its less famous name, Arkushanangarushashutu, which is the longest of all the known star names. Asellus Borealis, also known as Gamma Cancri, is a white A-type subgiant that is around light years away from us.
It has a magnitude of 4. The red dwarf can only be seen through a telescope and the system is approximately 41 light years distant. As of , astronomers have confirmed five extrasolar planets orbit the primary star in the 55 Cancri system, 55 Cancri A.
This is one of the four known planetary systems known to have at least five planets. Tegmine, also known as Zeta Cancri, is a multiple star system approximately It has at least four stars with an apparent magnitude of 4. It is composed of two binary stars, Zeta-1 Cancri and Zeta-2 Cancri, that are separated by 5. The second star consists of Zeta Cancri C and Zeta Cancri D, which are a yellow G-type star and a 10th magnitude red dwarf separated by only 0.
Lambda Cancri is a blue-white B-type main sequence dwarf with an apparent magnitude of 5. It is approximately light years away from us. Xi Cancri is a spectroscopic binary star that is located around light years away from us. The system consists of Xi Cancri A, which is a yellow G-type giant with a magnitude of 5. The stars have an orbital period of 4. It has an apparent magnitude of 3.
Its age is believed to be around million years. The brightest stars in the cluster are blue-white in colour and with magnitudes ranging between 6 and 6. Galileo was the first to see in through a telescope in , although it is visible to the naked eye.
Messier 67, also known as M67 or NGC , is an open cluster that is one of the oldest open clusters known. It has an estimated age of between 3. It contains over stars similar to the Sun and a number of red giants, with almost all the stars in the cluster roughly at the same distance and of the same age, which makes Messier 67 one of the most observed and studied clusters.
Then there is Delta Cancri — an orange giant star approximately light-years away. This is the second-brightest star in the Cancer constellation, and also where the famous Beehive Cluster Messier 44 can be found see below.
A bit further north is Gamma Cancri, an A-type white subgiant located light years from Earth. Its Latin name is Asellus Borealis, which means you guessed it! Both this star and Delta Cancri are significant because of their mythological connection and proximity to Messier Next up is Alpha Cancri, the fourth brightest star in the constellation, which is also known as Acubens.
The star also goes by the names of Al Zubanah or Sertans, which are derived from the Arabic az-zub? Cancer is also home to many Deep Sky Objects. For instance, there is the aforementioned Beehive Cluster Messier This open cluster is the nearest of its type relative to our Solar System, and contains a larger star population than most other nearby clusters.
Under dark skies the Beehive Cluster looks like a nebulous object to the unaided eye; thus it has been known since ancient times. Both clusters also contain red giants and white dwarfs, which represent later stages of stellar evolution, along with main sequence stars of spectral classes A, F, G, K, and M. Brown dwarfs, however, are extremely rare in this cluster, probably because they have been lost by tidal stripping from the halo.
M67 is not the oldest known galactic cluster, but there are very few in the Milky Way known to be older. M67 is an important laboratory for studying stellar evolution, since all its stars are at the same distance and age, except for approximately 30 anomalous blue stragglers, whose origins are not fully understood. M67 has more than stars similar to the Sun and many red giants, though the total star count has been estimated at over The chances of seeing Cancer are very limited due to its faint appearance.
In the northern hemisphere, the constellation is best seen in spring. The best time is around 9. Look southeast and high up in the sky. As the month progresses, the best time to see it becomes earlier, so by the end of March, look for the constellation at around 8. In the southern hemisphere, the constellation is best seen in autumn.
Look northeast at around 9. As the month progresses, the time to look will be earlier, around 8. If you are out and about, far from the city lights and interested in Cancer astronomy, you may be lucky enough to see constellation Cancer with the naked eye. It is the faintest of the Zodiac constellations and, therefore, sometimes difficult to find. Using a powerful pair of binos will give you a better chance of viewing the Crab.
The best way to view the Crab is through a telescope. For amateurs, there is a great choice of well-priced scopes that will give you fabulous views, even in your city garden. Dobsonian telescopes are designed with beginners in mind and the Dobsonian vision is to bring powerful telescopes to the amateur. Ancient history tells us that the Babylonians as keen astronomers had identified a constellation which they named the Crayfish, years ago.
The Egyptians kept records of constellations as far back as BC. In these records, they described the constellation as Scarabaeus, the Scarab. The Scarab is a beetle with a hard blue shell and is regarded as a sacred emblem of immortality. In somewhat more recent times, the famous Ptolemy named the Crab.
He lived between 90 AD and AD. Claudius Ptolemy was a Greek mathematician, geographer, astrologer, and astronomer. He lived in the city of Alexandria in Egypt, which at the time was under the rule of the Roman Empire.
Cancer, the crab constellation, was one of the first objects Galileo observed with his telescope in Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaulti de Galilei was an Italian astronomer and physicist. The ancient Babylonians were keen astronomers and had identified a constellation which they named the Crayfish, years ago.
Based on ancient Babylonian history, astronomers around years ago had identified a constellation that resembled a sea creature with large claws in the front of the body. The Latin word for crab is Cancer and so in Cancer etymology, it became known as the Cancer Constellation in modern times. The Cancer constellation name carries no medical meaning and is not related to the medical condition of cancer.
People born under this sign are in no way more prone to getting cancer than any other person born under a different sign. Like many of the constellations, there are several different stories in ancient mythology about the Crab. One Cancer constellation myth tells of Hercules, son of Zeus, who was endlessly tormented by Hera, his stepmother. She hated Hercules with a passion and made it her mission to kill him. Living with ongoing attempts on his life eventually drove Hercules insane.
In his rage, he killed six sons of Zeus. When Hercules regained his sanity, he was forced to carry out a number of tasks as punishment and penance for his actions. His second task was to kill Hydra, a snake-like beast with multiple heads.
Hera, his stepmother, watched horrified as he battled with Hydra. She sent along a crab to distract him. The crab had little effect and after biting his ankle, Hercules crushed it with his foot. Choose the ending you prefer — in his rage, Hercules kicked the crab into the sky or, Hera placed it there to honor its service.
Many zodiac signs are linked to Greek and Roman gods. In fact, Cancer is one of the few signs that are not associated directly with God. Are you fascinated by the Cancer symbol meaning and are keen to know what does the Cancer sign mean? In ancient Babylonian history, the crab offers a strong connection to death and the underworld.
In Greek mythology, this theme continues in the Cancer mythology story of Hercules and Hydra. The Crab was sent by Hera, his stepmother, to distract Hercules while he was trying to kill Hydra.
Unfortunately, the Crab had little effect and was crushed underfoot by Hercules. To honor it, Hera placed it into the sky. In the modern world , the crab as a sea creature symbolizes toughness and resilience. The hard shell protects them, even though inside, they are small and timid creatures. Some ancient cultures described the constellation of Cancer as a lobster, scarab, or turtle.
All these creatures have similar characteristics of endurance and self-sufficiency. They all have the inborn ability to defend themselves against forces that are greater than they are. The Crab is known to persevere despite efforts to detract it. Have you noticed how a crab will struggle to get to the water, despite the strength of the waves crashing up onto the shore and washing it back?
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