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Archive for March 26, 2024

Ephemeris: 03/26/2024 – The dimmest constellation of the Zodiac is Cancer the crab

March 26, 2024 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, March 26th. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 29 minutes, setting at 8:03, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:31. The Moon, 1 day past full, will rise at 9:44 this evening.

The dimmest constellation of the Zodiac is Cancer the crab. It is located high in the southeast at 9 PM between the backwards question mark that is the front of Leo the lion towards the lower left and Castor and Pollux of Gemini to the upper right. Its claim to more modern astronomical fame is the star cluster within it called the Beehive Cluster also known in ancient times as Praesepe the manger which looks like a fuzzy spot to the naked eye. In binoculars or a small telescope it shows up as a rather sparse open cluster of stars and to me the whole cluster appears somewhat triangular like an old-fashioned beehive. The Beehive cluster is relatively close to us at about 610 light years away.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT–4 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Cancer the crab finder
Cancer the crab is located in the southeastern sky between Leo the lion to the lower left and Castor and Pollux of Gemini to the upper right. Created using Stellarium.
Beehive Cluster finder
Finding the Beehive Cluster is fairly easy once you find Cancer. It looks like a fuzzy spot to the naked eye as Praesepe the manger. But in binoculars the star cluster shows as individual stars and a telescope will pick up even more stars in this cluster. It is also known as M 44. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice and GIMP.
Categories: Constellations, Ephemeris Program, Observing, Star Cluster Tags: , ,