14Cetus, The Sea Monster
NAME: Cetus (SEE-tus)
SEASON: Autumn
CULMINATION: midnight, 15 October
ABBREVIATION: Cet
GENITIVE: Ceti (SEE-tee)
NEIGHBORS: Aqr, Ari, Eri, For, Psc, Scl, Tau
BINOCULAR OBJECTS: NGC 1068 (M 77)
URBAN OBJECTS: NGC 1068 (M 77)
Cetus is a large but relatively dim equatorial constellation that ranks 4th in size among the 88 constellations. It covers 1,231 square degrees of sky, or about 3.0%. Despite its relative paucity of bright stars, Cetus is easy to recognize because several of its brighter stars form a naked-eye pentagon pattern in an area of the sky that is nearly devoid of bright stars.
Cetus is an ancient constellation that represents the Sea Monster in the tale of King Cepheus of Æthiopia, his wife Cassiopeia, ...
Get Illustrated Guide to Astronomical Wonders now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
