Cetus
Channel: all the knowledge of the universe PRINCIPIA
Date: 2021-12-09

Cetus, by Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=6362 / CC BY SA 3.0

#Cetus_(constellation)
#Constellations
#Equatorial_constellations
#Constellations_listed_by_Ptolemy
#Fictional_cetaceans
#Legendary_mammals
Cetus （/ˈsiːtəs/） is a constellation, sometimes called 'the whale' in English.
The Cetus was a sea monster in Greek mythology which both Perseus and Heracles needed to slay.
Cetus is in the region of the sky that contains other water-related constellations: Aquarius, Pisces and Eridanus.
Cetus annotated with lines （a "stick figure"） from a latitude further north （north of its declination）, above a horizon, in conditions ideal for observation.
Cetus is not among the 12 true zodiac constellations in the J2000 epoch, nor classical 12-part zodiac.
The ecliptic passes less than 0.
25° from one of its corners.
Thus the moon and planets will enter Cetus （occulting any stars as a foreground object） in 50% of their successive orbits briefly and the southern part of the sun appears in Cetus for about one day each year.
Many asteroids in belts have longer phases occulting the north-western part of Cetus, those with a slightly greater inclination to the ecliptic than the moon and planets.
As seen from Mars, the ecliptic （apparent plane of the sun and also the average plane of the planets which is almost the same） passes into it.
Mira （"wonderful", named by Bayer: Omicron Ceti, a star of the neck of the asterism） was the first variable star to be discovered and the prototype of its class, Mira variables.
Over a period of 332 days, it reaches a maximum apparent magnitude of 3 - visible to the naked eye - and dips to a minimum magnitude of 10, invisible to the unaided eye.
Its seeming appearance and disappearance gave it its name.
Mira pulsates with a minimum size of 400 solar diameters and a maximum size of 500 solar diameters.
420 light-years from Earth, it was discovered by David Fabricius in 1596.
α Ceti, traditionally called Menkar （"the nose"）, is a red-hued gia...