Abbreviation: Â Cet
English Name: Â The Whales
Genitive:Â Menkar
Hemisphere:  Northern / Southern Hemisphere (Underlined means the more area in square feet in Southern Hemisphere.)
Location:Â Between the constellations of Eridanus and Pisces.
Visible between latitudes: Â +70 and -90 degrees
Best season: Late Autumn/ Early Winter
Seen in three seasons:Â Summer, Autumn & Winter
Best seen in:Â November
Seen between:Â September and January
Right Ascension (RA):Â 02 hour
Declination (DEC):Â -10 degrees
Area (square degrees): Â 1,231Â (4th)
Cetus (The Whale)
- Large constellation crossed the Celestial Equator.
- The most famous star known as Mira the Wonderful, is a binary star,consisting of the red giant Mira A along with Mira B. (See photo.) At its brightest, it can reach magnitude +3.0, but it drops to magnitude +10.0 at its minimum.
Messier Objects
- M77 – Spiral Galaxy; seen face-on from Earth. A telescope shows M77 as a small, round patch.
Features of Interest
- NGC 246 – also known as The Cetus Ring or caldwell 56 (C56), is a planetary Nebula with magnitude +8.0.
- IC 1613 – Irregular dwarf galaxy in Cetus near the Star 26 ceti.
Named Stars
- Menkar (Alpha Cet)
- Diphda (Beta Cet)
- Kaffaljidhma (Gamma Cet)
- Baten Kaitos (Zeta Cet)
- Dheneb (Eta Cet)
- Deneb Kaitos Shemali (Iota Cet)
- Menkar (Lambda Cet)
- Mira (Omicron Cet)
Others
- Photo of the constellation;Â Cetus, as it appears to the naked eye. (Lines have been added for clarity.)
- Sky Chart  –  Cetus
- List of stars in Cetus.
Back to The 88 Constellations Lists page.