Abbreviation: Â Cnc
English Name: Â The Crab
Genitive:Â Acubens
Hemisphere:Â Â Northern HemisphereÂ
Location:Â Between the constellations of Leo and Gemini.
Visible between latitudes: Â +45 and -90 degrees
Best season:Â Spring
Seen in three season:Â Winter, Spring and Summer
Best seen in:Â Â March
Seen between:Â January and May
Right Ascension (RA):Â 09 hour
Declination (DEC):Â +20 degrees
Area (square degrees): Â 506Â (31st)
Cancer (The Crab)
- It lies between Gemini (The Twin) and Leo (The Lion).
- A dim and largely zodiacal constellation.
- In fact, it is very faint with no stars brighter than magnitude +4.0.
Messier Objects
- M44 – Praesepe, The Beehive Cluster; there are actually about 200 stars in Open Cluster, spread over an area three times the diameter of the Full Moon.
- M67 – Large Open Cluster with about the same size of Full Moon – readily visible in binocular.
Features of interest
- M44 - To the naked-eye, it appears as a little misty patch in clear skies even if there is a certain amount of moonless/moonlight. Binoculars reveal it as a large cluster of stars and in a telescope at the lowest power the eyepiece.
Named Stars
- Acubens (Alpha Cnc)
- Altarf (Beta Cnc)
- Asellus Borealis (Gamma Cnc)
- Asellus Australis (Delta Cnc)
- Tegmen (Zeta 1 Cnc)
Others
- Photo of the constellation – Cancer, as it appears to the naked-eye. (Lines have been added for clarity.)
- Sky Chart  –  Cancer
- List of stars in Cancer.
Back to The 88 Constellations Lists page.