08Cancer, The Crab
NAME: Cancer (CAN-sur)
SEASON: Winter
CULMINATION: midnight, 30 January
ABBREVIATION: Cnc
GENITIVE: Cancri (CAN-cree)
NEIGHBORS: CMi, Gem, Hya, Leo, Lyn
BINOCULAR OBJECTS: NGC 2632 (M44), NGC 2682 (M67)
URBAN OBJECTS: NGC 2632 (M44), NGC 2682 (M67)
Cancer is a dim winter constellation of medium size, ranking 31st in size among the 88 constellations. It covers 506 square degrees of the celestial sphere, or about 1.2%. Its brightest star is only fourth magnitude, and it has few naked-eye stars. Despite all of this, Cancer is an ancient constellation. In contrast to the 88 modern constellations, which cover the entire celestial sphere, the ancient constellations covered only areas of the sky with bright stars or interesting ...
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