Cetus

Abbreviation:  Cet
English Name:  The Whales
Genitive: Menkar
Hemisphere:  Northern / Southern Hemisphere (Underlined means the more area in square feet in Southern Hemisphere.)
Location: Between the constellations of Eridanus and Pisces.
Visible between latitudes:  +70 and -90 degrees
Best season: Late Autumn/ Early Winter
Seen in three seasons: Summer, Autumn & Winter
Best seen in:  November
Seen between: September and January
Right Ascension (RA):  02 hour
Declination (DEC):  -10 degrees
Area (square degrees):  1,231 (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; 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.