Archive

Archive for March 27, 2025

Ephemeris: 03/27/2025 – Cancer the celestial crab

March 27, 2025 Comments off

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Thursday, March 27th. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 32 minutes, setting at 8:04, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:30. The Moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 7:08 tomorrow morning.

At 10 PM, between the stars Castor and Pollux in Gemini high in the southwest and the star Regulus in Leo the Lion in the southeast lies the dimmest constellation of the zodiac, Cancer the crab. To me its 5 brightest stars make an upside down Y. There are the stars in the center of the constellation Asellus Borealis and Asellus Australis, the north and south donkeys. There’s a fuzzy spot between and just west of them called Praesepe, the manger, from which they are eating hay. In binoculars, it resolves into a cluster of stars called the Beehive cluster. We amateur astronomers also know it as M44, the 44th object on 18th century comet hunter Charles Messier’s list of fuzzy objects that might be mistaken for comets.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT – 4 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

An animated finder for Cancer the crab.
An animated finder for Cancer the crab for 10 PM, March 27, 2025. Star intensity has been increased to beyond naked eye visibility to bring out the stars of Cancer, which are quite dim. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
The Beehive Cluster
The Beehive star cluster, M44. Its ancient name was the Praesepe or manger when glimpsed by the naked eye as a fuzzy spot. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Skycharts)

Categories: Constellations, Ephemeris Program, Observing Tags: , , ,