Welcome to Learn the Sky, your online resource for learning about the stars and constellations.
Welcome! My name is Janine and in this video we will review how to find the constellation known
as Cancer the Crab. Out of all the zodiacal constellations that exist, Cancer is one of
the most inconspicuous. Its stars are pretty faint and unless you live in an area where
there is very little light pollution, Cancer can definitely be a challenge to find. For me, I was
able to figure out where this constellation was by finding Gemini and Leo and using a star chart to
realize that Cancer is situated right between these two easily identifiable constellations.
I was also able to figure out where Cancer was by finding this star cluster that
sits right in the middle of the constellation. When I first found this star cluster I was very curious
to learn more about it and I was pleased to find it as a very rich history. So let's go into
a little bit more detail about Cancer the Crab. Cancer is classified as an ancient constellation.
It was identified by the Babylonians, the Egyptians; Chinese, Greek and Roman cultures; and probably
very many more. The name Cancer is Latin for crab. It's classified as a zodiacal constellation.
This means that the sun, moon and planets pass through this constellation. The Beehive
Cluster is what really stands out in this star pattern. As you look at this picture, this
star cluster is probably what stands out to you and that's what I use to find this constellation.
So, when can you see it? It's best seen in the Northern Hemisphere in the early spring months.
The best way to look for it is to find Gemini and Leo. Cancer is in between
these two constellations. As I said earlier, the best way to find it is to look for the Beehive
Cluster. When I've observed this constellation, the star cluster stands out more to me than the
actual stars of the pattern do. These stars are only a fourth magnitude which makes it
challenging to point out, especially live if you live in an area with lots of light pollution.
Let's review over the pattern that Cancer makes across the sky. So here we have the
official star map of Cancer that's released by the International Astronomical Union. There's a few
things I want to bring to your attention. First, is this line right here. This is called the ecliptic
and this is the path of the sun, moon and stars. Since the ecliptic passes through Cancer
it's classified as a zodiacal constellation. The shape of this looks like an upside down
letter y to me. As I've said earlier I really do struggle to point out this star pattern.
I really find Cancer through M44 which is the Beehive Cluster. If you compare this star map here
to this picture, you can use the heads of Gemini which is Pollux and Castor to help you find Cancer.
So let's look at a few more pictures and get some practice with how to ID this constellation.
As you're looking at this photo, you can probably see the star cluster that's right
in the center of this photograph and that is the Beehive Cluster. Cancer also has another cluster,
right here, that you can find that's kind of near one of the claws of Cancer.
Cancer really doesn't look like a crab to me whatsoever, but again that's how ancients have
pointed out this constellation. You probably will see variations of this star pattern depending
upon the resources that you consult. Let's get a little bit more practice with a different photo.
So this is a typical photo of what you would see, even if you have a little bit of light pollution.
Can you identify the star cluster here? If you can, it's right here. That's the Beehive
Star Cluster. The other star cluster is located right there in Cancer. If we were to point out
the pattern, here it is. I like this photo because it shows you the asterism
known as The Sickle which is really just a portion of the constellation known as Leo.
I have another video on Leo, so if you want to learn more about it go see that video. This
asterism is called The Sickle and it represents the head of the lion. If we were to back up here,
maybe you can see it's kind of like a backwards question mark to me as well. That's the way I see
it. Let's continue to get some more practice with identifying Cancer. So I love this photo
because there are quite a few constellations. The one that stands out to me is this one
right in the center and this is Gemini. Gemini is one of those few constellations that somewhat
looks like what it represents, which is a pair of twins. It has two bright stars, Pollux and Castor.
If we were to point out where everything else is- well actually before I do that, can you find
the little Beehive Star Cluster? Where can you see a star cluster in this photo?
Hopefully your eyes are drawn to this area right here. So to me that star cluster stands out more
then the rest of this star pattern. If we were to point out everything here we have Cancer;
this is Canis Minor; this is Auriga, right here. So this should teach you that you can use Gemini as
well as Canis Minor to help you find Cancer. Let's look at one more photograph just to help give you
a little bit more practice. So here you can see a large portion of the winter sky. Hopefully you
can see Orion, maybe you can see Gemini, Taurus, Auriga, Perseus is here, Canis Major, Canis Minor,
and a few other constellations. If we were to point everything out, here we are. Here is
Gemini and you should know that Cancer is right. Next to Gemini, if we were to back up and look at
it without the the star patterns, here's Gemini. Then you can draw kind
of like a line between the heads of Gemini to kind of point to you where the Beehive Star Cluster is.
So again, if we were to point everything out this is where Cancer is and then Leo would be in this
general direction. I can't really point out the star pattern in this photo so I hope
this is helpful for you to figure out where Cancer is in orientation to everything else around it.
We've come to the end of our video about Cancer, so let's review everything we've learned so far.
It's best seen in the spring months in the Northern Hemisphere. It's classified as
a zodiacal constellation because the sun, moon and planets all pass through this constellation.
The best way to find it is to look for Gemini and Leo. Cancer is right in between the two.
In terms of bright stars, Cancer really doesn't have many bright stars because most of the stars
within this pattern are of fourth magnitude or fifth and sixth magnitude which means that
they're pretty dim. So if you want to see this constellation you really need to have some dark
skies. In terms of celestial objects, the Beehive Star Cluster is the thing that stands out to me.
When I look at this constellation, in fact, I don't really try to look for the star pattern. I usually
just try to find the Beehive Star Cluster because it's just so beautiful. There's also Messier 67 as
well. So I wish you luck finding Cancer. It's one of the more difficult zodiacal constellations to find
because its stars are pretty faint. Remember it takes time, patience and practice to identify the
constellations. So I wish you clear skies and keep looking up! If you're new to this channel be sure
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