Cetus

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Cetus
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Abbreviation	Cet
Genitive	Ceti
Symbology	the Whale or Sea Monster
Right ascension	1.42 h
Declination	−11.35°
Area	1231 sq. deg. Ranked 4th
Number of stars (Bayer-Flamsteed)	3
Number of bright stars (magnitude < 3)	{{{numberbrightstars}}}
Number of nearby stars (Distance < 100 ly)	{{{numbernearbystars}}}
Brightest star	{{{brighteststarname}}} (App. magnitude 2.04)
Nearest Star	{{{neareststarname}}} (Distance: {{{stardistance}}})
Meteor showers	October Cetids Eta Cetids Omicron Cetids
Bordering constellations	Aries Pisces Aquarius Sculptor Fornax Eridanus Taurus
Visible at latitudes between +70° and −90° Best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of November
Note: †Mira (ο Cet) is magnitude 2.0 at its brightest.

Cetus (IPA: /ˈsiːtəs, ˈseɪtəs/, Latinized Greek: whale) is a constellation of the southern sky, in the region known as the Water, near other watery constellations like Aquarius, Pisces, and Eridanus.

1 Notable features
2 Notable deep sky objects
3 History
4 Notable and named stars
5 External links

[edit] Notable features

This constellation's most notable star is Mira (ο Ceti), the first variable star to be discovered. Over a period of 331.65 days it can reach a maximum magnitude as high as magnitude 2.0, one of the brightest in the sky and easily visible to the unaided eye, then drop to 10.1 and back again. Its discovery in 1596 by David Fabricius further dented the supposed unchangeability of the heavens and lent support to the Copernican revolution.

Other stars in the constellation include α Ceti (Menkar); β Ceti (Deneb Kaitos), brightest in the constellation; and τ Ceti, the 17th closest star to Earth.

The ecliptic passes close to the constellation boundary of Cetus, and thus the planets may be in this constellation for brief periods of time. This is even more true of asteroids, whose orbits usually have a greater inclination to the ecliptic than planets. The asteroid 4 Vesta was discovered in this constellation in 1807.

[edit] Notable deep sky objects

Cetus lies far from the galactic plane, so many distant galaxies are visible, unobscured by dust from the Milky Way. Of these, the brightest is M77, a 9th-magnitude spiral galaxy near δ Ceti.

[edit] History

This constellation has been known since antiquity. In Mesopotamia, it was identified with the primordial cosmic female principle, the sea-monster Tiamat.

In Ancient Greece, together with the constellations above it, (Andromeda, Cepheus, Perseus, Cassiopeia, and possibly Pegasus), this may be the source of the myth of the Boast of Cassiopeia, with which it is usually identified.

In certain earlier Greek legends, it also represented the gates (and gateposts) of the underworld (considered to be the area under the ecliptic). As such, together with other features in the Zodiac sign of Pisces (including Pisces itself, as well as prominent stars behind Cetus), it may have formed the basis of the myth of the capture of Cerberus in The Twelve Labours of Herakles.

According to the Arabs, one of the hands of the Pleiades (Al-Thurayya) extended into part of the constellation Cetus. The Arabs also saw two pearl necklaces among the stars of Cetus. One pearl necklace was fully tied together and undamaged, but the other pearl necklace was broken and its pearls were scattered. Another generation of Arabs, like the ancient Hebrews and Greeks, portrayed an enormous Leviathan-like sea creature among the stars of Cetus.

[edit] Notable and named stars

Stars with proper names:

(92/α Cet) 2.54 Menkar or Menkab [Mekab] or Monkar
< منخر minxar nostril
< منكب minkab shoulder
< (?) منقار minqār peak (snout)

(16/β Cet) 2.04 Diphda [Difda al Thani] or Deneb Kaitos or Rana Secunda
< الضفدع الثاني ađ̧-đ̧ifda^{c^aθ-θānī} The second frog
< ذنب القايتوس ðanab al-qaytus The Tail of Cetus

penis:* (86/γ Cet) 3.47 Kaffaljidhmah [Al Kaff al Jidhma]

< الكف الجذماء al-kaf al-jaðmā´ The cut-short (lepered) hand [reaching from the Pleiades]

(82/δ Cet 4.08 Phycochroma or Phycea
< φυκοχρωμα = phukochroma seaweed-colored (the color of seaweed)
< φυκεα = phukea of or like seaweed (in color); seaweed-colored [referring to Cetus the Sea Monster]

(55/ζ Cet) 3.73 Baten Kaitos
< بطن baţn belly + κήτος whale

(31/η Cet) 3.46 Deneb Algenubi [Dheneb, Deneb]
< الذنب الجنوبي að-ðanab al-janūbiyy The southern fluke

(45/θ Cet 3.60 Altawk or Tawk or Tawk Meksura [Al Tawk al Maksuur]
< الطوق al-tawq The Necklace
< الطوق المكسور al-tawq al-maksūur The Broken Necklace

(8/ι Cet) 3.56 Schemali [Deneb Kaitos Shemali]
< ذنب قايتوس الشمالي ðanab qāytūs aš-šamāliyy The northern fluke of Cetus

(91/λ Cet) (or Menkar, see α Cet) 4.71

(68/ο Cet) ~2.00 Mira [Mira Ceti] or Collum Ceti – Mira variable prototype
< stella mīra The wondrous star

(89/π Cet) 4.24 Al Sadr al Ketus
< الصدر القايتوس al-şadr al-qaytus Chest of Cetus

(52/τ Cet) 3.49 Durre Menthor or Al Durr al Manthur
< الدرر المنثور al durr' al-manthūur The Scattered Pearls (of the Broken Necklace)
< nearby star; has a circumstellar accretion disk

(59/υ Cet) 3.99 Aquae Abyssi or Abyssus Aquae
< Latin for "Waters of the Deep" (abode of Cetus)
< Latin for "the Watery Deep" (abode of Cetus)