"of the constellation is Praesepe (Messier 44), one of the closest open clusters to Earth and a popular target for amateur astronomers. Cancer is a medium-sized constellation that is bordered by Gemini to the west, Lynx to the north, Leo Minor to the northeast, Leo to the east, Hydra to the south, and Canis Minor to the southwest. The three-letter abbreviation for the constellation, as adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1922, is 'Cnc'. The official constellation boundaries, as set by Eugène Delporte in 1930, are defined by a polygon of 10 sides (""illustrated in infobox""). In the equatorial"
"north, Cancer to the northeast, and Hydra to the east. It does not border Canis Major; Monoceros is in between the two. Covering 183 square degrees, Canis Minor ranks seventy-first of the 88 constellations in size. It appears prominently in the southern sky during the Northern Hemisphere's winter. The constellation boundaries, as set by Eugène Delporte in 1930, are defined by a polygon of 14 sides. In the equatorial coordinate system, the right ascension coordinates of these borders lie between and , while the declination coordinates are between and . Most visible in the evening sky from January to March,"
"Castor (Alpha Geminorum) and Pollux (Beta Geminorum). As emblems of immortality and death, the Dioscuri, like Heracles, were said to have been initiated into the Eleusinian mysteries. Castor and Pollux are consistently associated with horses in art and literature. They are widely depicted as helmeted horsemen carrying spears. The Pseudo-Oppian manuscript depicts the brothers hunting, both on horseback and on foot. On votive reliefs they are depicted with a variety of symbols representing the concept of twinhood, such as the ""dokana"" (δόκανα – two upright pieces of wood connected by two cross-beams), a pair of amphorae, a pair of shields,"
"the star's Bayer designation. The traditional name ""Pollux"" refers specifically to the twins Castor and Pollux in Greek and Roman mythology. In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN's first bulletin of July 2016 included a table of the first two batches of names approved by the WGSN; which included ""Pollux"" for this star. Castor and Pollux are the two ""heavenly twin"" stars giving the constellation Gemini (Latin, 'the twins') its name. The stars, however, are quite different in detail. Castor is a complex"
"northern direction. Since the medieval period, it has become convenient to use Alpha Ursae Minoris (or ""Polaris"") as the north star, even though it was still several degrees away from the celestial pole. Its New Latin name of ""stella polaris"" was coined only in the early modern period. The ancient name of the constellation is ""Cynosura"" (Greek Κυνοσούρα ""dog's tail""). The origin of this name is unclear (Ursa Minor being a ""dog's tail"" would imply that another constellation nearby is ""the dog"", but no such constellation is known). Instead, the mythographic tradition of ""Catasterismi"" makes ""Cynosura"" the name of an"
"hemisphere. It includes Hercules, Sagitta, Aquila, Lyra, Cygnus, Vulpecula, Hydra, Sextans, Crater, Corvus, Ophiuchus, Serpens, Scutum, Centaurus, Lupus, Corona Australis, Ara, Triangulum Australe, and Crux. The Orion Family, on the opposite side of the sky from the Hercules Family, includes Orion, Canis Major, Canis Minor, Lepus, and Monoceros. This group of constellations draws from Greek myth, representing the hunter (Orion) and his two dogs (Canis Major and Canis Minor) chasing the hare (Lepus). Menzel added the unicorn (Monoceros) for completeness. The Heavenly Waters draws from the Mesopotamian tradition associating the dim area between Sagittarius and Orion with the god Ea"
"opposite side of the sky from ""Papsukal"", the True Shepherd of Heaven in Babylonian mythology. Canis Minor was also given the name ""DAR.LUGAL"", its position defined as ""the star which stands behind it [Orion]"", in the ""MUL.APIN""; the constellation represents a rooster. This name may have also referred to the constellation Lepus. ""DAR.LUGAL"" was also denoted ""DAR.MUŠEN"" and ""DAR.LUGAL.MUŠEN"" in Babylonia. Canis Minor was then called ""tarlugallu"" in Akkadian astronomy. Canis Minor was one of the original 48 constellations formulated by Ptolemy in his second-century Almagest, in which it was defined as a specific pattern (asterism) of stars; Ptolemy identified"
"with alpha Leonis, also known as Regulus, being the bright star of magnitude one. The stars eta Leonis and omicron Leonis form the right front foot of the Lion. USS Leonis (AK-128) was a United States Navy Crater class cargo ship named after the Latin version of this constellation name. "" Leo (constellation) Leo is one of the constellations of the zodiac, lying between Cancer the crab to the west and Virgo the maiden to the east. Its name is Latin for lion, and to the ancient Greeks represented the Nemean Lion killed by the mythical Greek hero Heracles meaning"
"Pollux were also mythologically associated with St. Elmo's fire in their role as the protectors of sailors. When Castor died, because he was mortal, Pollux begged his father Zeus to give Castor immortality, and he did, by uniting them together in the heavens. Gemini is dominated by Castor and Pollux, two bright stars that appear relatively very closely together forming an o shape, encouraging the mythological link between the constellation and twinship. The twin above and to the right (as seen from the Northern Hemisphere) is Castor, whose brightest star is α Gem; it is a second-magnitude star and represents"
"Taurus (constellation) Taurus (Latin for ""the Bull"") is one of the constellations of the zodiac, which means it is crossed by the plane of the ecliptic. Taurus is a large and prominent constellation in the northern hemisphere's winter sky. It is one of the oldest constellations, dating back to at least the Early Bronze Age when it marked the location of the Sun during the spring equinox. Its importance to the agricultural calendar influenced various bull figures in the mythologies of Ancient Sumer, Akkad, Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. A number of features exist that are of interest to"
"Giraffe (often interpreted as a Camel), Cancer Minor the Small Crab, Euphrates Fluvius et Tigris Fluvius the Rivers Euphrates and Tigris, Gallus the Cock, Jordanis Fluvius the River Jordan, Monoceros the Unicorn and Sagitta Australis the Southern Arrow. Of the latter constellations, only Camelopardalis and Monoceros are still found on modern star charts, and recognized by the IAU. The minor planet 10648 Plancius commemorates his contributions in celestial and terrestrial cartography. Petrus Plancius Petrus Plancius (1552 – May 15, 1622) was a Dutch-Flemish astronomer, cartographer and clergyman. He was born as Pieter Platevoet in Dranouter, now in Heuvelland, West Flanders."
"the Northern Hemisphere. Citations Sources Online sources Leo Minor Leo Minor is a small and faint constellation in the northern celestial hemisphere. Its name is Latin for ""the smaller lion"", in contrast to Leo, the larger lion. It lies between the larger and more recognizable Ursa Major to the north and Leo to the south. Leo Minor was not regarded as a separate constellation by classical astronomers; it was designated by Johannes Hevelius in 1687. There are 37 stars brighter than apparent magnitude 6.5 in the constellation; three are brighter than magnitude 4.5. 46 Leonis Minoris, an orange giant of"
"mentally draw a line from the Pleiades star cluster located in Taurus and the brightest star in Leo, Regulus. In doing so, an imaginary line that is relatively close to the ecliptic is drawn, a line which intersects Gemini roughly at the midpoint of the constellation, just below Castor and Pollux. The constellation contains 85 stars visible to observation on Earth without a telescope. The brightest star in Gemini is Pollux, and the second-brightest is Castor. Castor's Bayer designation as ""Alpha"" arose because Johann Bayer did not carefully distinguish which of the two was the brighter when he assigned his"
"of one another by following various lines traced through various stars in Orion. The stars in the hexagon are parts of six constellations. Counter-clockwise around the hexagon, starting with Rigel, these are Orion, Taurus, Auriga, Gemini, Canis Minor, and Canis Major. Winter Hexagon The Winter Hexagon or Winter Circle/Oval is an asterism appearing to be in the form of a hexagon with vertices at Rigel, Aldebaran, Capella, Pollux, Procyon, and Sirius. It is mostly upon the Northern Hemisphere's celestial sphere. On most locations on Earth (except the South Island of New Zealand and the south of Chile and Argentina and"
"constellation Auriga near the border to Lynx and Gemini and depicted Herschel’s 20-ft-long telescope. Its sibling was Tubus Hershelli Minor, which lay between Orion and Taurus. The two telescopes lay near Zeta Tauri, near where the planet Uranus was first spotted. Johann Elert Bode renamed the constellation ""Telescopium Herschelii"" and omitted the smaller telescope constellation in his 1801 ""Uranographia"" star atlas. In his atlas, the constellation depicted Herschel's earlier 7-foot telescope. It was ignored by some celestial cartographers such as Argelander in 1843, Proctor in 1876, Rosser in 1879 and Pritchard in 1885, yet did appear in two works of"
"Canis Major Canis Major is a constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere. In the second century, it was included in Ptolemy's 48 constellations, and is counted among the 88 modern constellations. Its name is Latin for ""greater dog"" in contrast to Canis Minor, the ""lesser dog""; both figures are commonly represented as following the constellation of Orion the hunter through the sky. The Milky Way passes through Canis Major and several open clusters lie within its borders, most notably M41. Canis Major contains Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, known as the ""dog star"". It is bright because"
"goose to be two separate constellations, but later the stars were divided into a separate Anser and Vulpecula. Today, they have been merged again under the name of the fox, but the goose is remembered by the name of the star α Vulpeculae: Anser. Vulpecula Vulpecula is a faint constellation in the northern sky. Its name is Latin for ""little fox"", although it is commonly known simply as the fox. It was identified in the seventeenth century, and is located in the middle of the Summer Triangle (an asterism consisting of the bright stars Deneb, Vega, and Altair). There are"
"their breath. This refers (or, at least, is referred) to the beginning of the book of the prophet Isaiah, where he says: ""The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib."" (Isaiah 1:3) Taurus (Latin for ""the Bull"") is one of the constellations of the zodiac, which means it is crossed by the plane of the ecliptic. Taurus is a large and prominent constellation in the northern hemisphere's winter sky. It is one of the oldest constellations, dating back to at least the Early Bronze Age when it marked the location of the Sun during the spring equinox."
"Crux Crux is a constellation located in the southern sky in a bright portion of the Milky Way. It is among the most easily distinguished constellations, as all of its four main stars have an apparent visual magnitude brighter than +2.8, even though it is the smallest of all 88 modern constellations. Its name is Latin for cross, and it is dominated by a cross-shaped or kite-like asterism that is commonly known as the Southern Cross. Predominating is the first-magnitude blue-white star of Alpha Crucis or Acrux, being the constellation's brightest and most southerly member. Crux is followed by four"
"has been described by Patrick Moore as having ""dubious claims to a separate identity"". It is a small constellation bordered by Ursa Major to the north, Lynx to the west, Leo to the south, and touching the corner of Cancer to the southwest. The three-letter abbreviation for the constellation, as adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1922, is 'LMi'. The official constellation boundaries, as set by Eugène Delporte in 1930, are defined by a polygon of 16 sides. In the equatorial coordinate system, the right ascension coordinates of these borders lie between and , while the declination coordinates are"
"Leo Minor Leo Minor is a small and faint constellation in the northern celestial hemisphere. Its name is Latin for ""the smaller lion"", in contrast to Leo, the larger lion. It lies between the larger and more recognizable Ursa Major to the north and Leo to the south. Leo Minor was not regarded as a separate constellation by classical astronomers; it was designated by Johannes Hevelius in 1687. There are 37 stars brighter than apparent magnitude 6.5 in the constellation; three are brighter than magnitude 4.5. 46 Leonis Minoris, an orange giant of magnitude 3.8, is located some 95 light-years"
"in their spectra, and all are flare stars. ""α Geminorum"" (Latinised to ""Alpha Geminorum"") is the star system's Bayer designation. Castor and Pollux are the two ""heavenly twin"" stars that give the constellation Gemini (meaning ""twins"" in Latin) its name. The name ""Castor"" refers specifically to Castor, one of the twin sons of Zeus and Leda in Greek and Roman mythology. The star was annotated by the Arabic description ""Al-Ras al-Taum al-Muqadim"", which translates as ""the head of the foremost twin."" In the catalogue of stars in the ""Calendarium of Al Achsasi Al Mouakket"", this star was designated ""Aoul al"
"Aquarius (constellation) Aquarius is a constellation of the zodiac, situated between Capricornus and Pisces. Its name is Latin for ""water-carrier"" or ""cup-carrier"", and its symbol is , a representation of water. Aquarius is one of the oldest of the recognized constellations along the zodiac (the Sun's apparent path). It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations. It is found in a region often called the Sea due to its profusion of constellations with watery associations such as Cetus the whale, Pisces the fish, and Eridanus"
"vicinity of Ursa Major: Ursa Major itself, Ursa Minor, Draco, Canes Venatici, Boötes, Coma Berenices, Corona Borealis, Camelopardalis, Lynx, and Leo Minor. The eponymous constellation Ursa Major contains the famous Big Dipper. The Zodiac is a group of 12 constellations: Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpius, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, and Cancer. Some version of these constellations are found in traditions around the world, for this band around the celestial sphere includes the ecliptic, the apparent path of the sun through the year. These constellations therefore are all associated with zodiac signs. (The ecliptic also passes through the constellation"
"by Zeus. The king of gods fell in love with him and flew down to the mountain in the form of a large bird, whisking Ganymede away to the heavens. Ever since, the boy has served as cupbearer to the gods. Ovid has Orpheus sing the tale. Aquarius is a winter constellation in the northern hemisphere, found near Pisces and Cetus. It is especially notable as the radiant for four meteor showers, the largest of which is the Delta Aquarid meteor shower in late July and early August. Aquarius (astrology) Aquarius (♒) is the eleventh astrological sign in the Zodiac,"
"within the Vermilion Bird of the South (南方朱雀, ""Nán Fāng Zhū Què""). Cancer (constellation) Cancer is one of the twelve constellations of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for crab and it is commonly represented as one. Its astrological symbol is (Unicode ♋). Cancer is a medium-size constellation with an area of 506 square degrees and its stars are rather faint, its brightest star Beta Cancri having an apparent magnitude of 3.5. It contains two stars with known planets, including 55 Cancri, which has five: one super-earth and four gas giants, one of which is in the habitable zone and"
"and the Waters of the Abyss. Aquarius and Capricornus, derived from Mesopotamian constellations, would have been natural members had they not already been assigned to the Zodiac group. Instead, Menzel expanded the area and included several disparate constellations, most associated with water in some form: Delphinus, Equuleus, Eridanus, Piscis Austrinus, Carina, Puppis, Vela, Pyxis, and Columba. Carina, Puppis, and Vela historically formed part of the former constellation Argo Navis, which in Greek tradition represented the ship of Jason. The Bayer Family collects several southern constellations first introduced by Petrus Plancius on several celestial globes in the late 16th century, based"
"Leo (constellation) Leo is one of the constellations of the zodiac, lying between Cancer the crab to the west and Virgo the maiden to the east. Its name is Latin for lion, and to the ancient Greeks represented the Nemean Lion killed by the mythical Greek hero Heracles meaning 'Glory of Hera' (known to the ancient Romans as Hercules) as one of his twelve labors. Its symbol is (Unicode ♌). One of the 48 constellations described by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, Leo remains one of the 88 modern constellations today, and one of the most easily recognizable due to its"
"15 February to 14 March. Aquarius is also associated with the Age of Aquarius, a concept popular in 1960s counterculture. Despite this prominence, the Age of Aquarius will not dawn until the year 2597, as an astrological age does not begin until the Sun is in a particular constellation on the vernal equinox. Aquarius (constellation) Aquarius is a constellation of the zodiac, situated between Capricornus and Pisces. Its name is Latin for ""water-carrier"" or ""cup-carrier"", and its symbol is , a representation of water. Aquarius is one of the oldest of the recognized constellations along the zodiac (the Sun's apparent"
"Lacerta Lacerta is one of the 88 modern constellations defined by the International Astronomical Union. Its name is Latin for lizard. A small, faint constellation, it was defined in 1687 by the astronomer Johannes Hevelius. Its brightest stars form a ""W"" shape similar to that of Cassiopeia, and it is thus sometimes referred to as 'Little Cassiopeia'. It is located between Cygnus, Cassiopeia and Andromeda on the northern celestial sphere. The northern part lies on the Milky Way. Lacerta is typical of Milky Way constellations: no bright galaxies, nor globular clusters, but instead open clusters, for example NGC 7243, the"
"coordinate system, the right ascension coordinates of these borders lie between and , while the declination coordinates are between and . Covering 506 square degrees or 0.921% of the sky, it ranks 31st of the 88 constellations in size. It can be seen at latitudes between +90° and -60° and is best visible at 9 p.m. during the month of March. Cancer Borders the bright constellations of Leo and Gemini and Canis Minor, Under city skies, Cancer is invisible to the naked eye. Cancer is the second dimmest of the zodiacal constellations, having only two stars above the fourth magnitude."
"the scales held by Astraea, the goddess of justice, associated with Virgo in the Greek mythology. Libra is bordered by the head of Serpens to the north, Virgo to the northwest, Hydra to the southwest, the corner of Centaurus to the southwest, Lupus to the south, Scorpius to the east and Ophiuchus to the northeast. Covering 538.1 square degrees and 1.304% of the night sky, it ranks 29th of the 88 constellations in size. The three-letter abbreviation for the constellation, as adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1922, is 'Lib'. The official constellation boundaries, as set by Eugène Delporte"
"Virgo (constellation) Virgo is one of the constellations of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for virgin, and its symbol is ♍. Lying between Leo to the west and Libra to the east, it is the second-largest constellation in the sky (after Hydra) and the largest constellation in the zodiac. It can be easily found through its brightest star, Spica. The bright star Spica makes it easy to locate Virgo, as it can be found by following the curve of the Big Dipper/Plough to Arcturus in Boötes and continuing from there in the same curve (""follow the arc to Arcturus"