Saturday,  April 28, 2012 • Vol. 12--No. 289 • 20 of 48 •  Other Editions

(Continued from page 19)

the two bright Gemini stars. Just remember those stars! And look for Cancer, when the moon moves away. If you do this, you'll have a wonderful surprise in store, especially if you're looking in a dark sky away from city lights.
• In a dark sky, if your eyesight is good, you can make out a patch of haze in the midst of Cancer's stars. If you have binoculars, you'll more clearly see a cluster of stars within Cancer, called Praesepe - also known as the open star cluster Messier 44 - most frequently called the Beehive.
• Cancer is well known not because it's bright, but because the sun in its yearly journey passes directly in front of it from about July 20 to August 9. So by definition, faint as it is, Cancer is a constellation of the Zodiac.
• Bottom line: Use the moon to locate the constellation Cancer on April 27, 2012. Cancer is faint so you won't see it well until the moon moves away. But you can remember how to find it by noticing the brighter objects near tonight's moon - the planet Mars, and stars

In the midst of the constellation Cancer, in a dark sky, you will find a faint cluster of stars. It is one of our galaxy's open star clusters, whose member stars were born from a single cloud of gas and dust in space and which still move together as a family. This cluster is called Praesepe - or Messier 44 - or the Beehive. Image Credit: 2MASS Atlas Image Gallery: The Messier Catalog via Wikimedia Commons


Regulus, Castor and Pollux.

© 2012 Groton Daily Independent • To send correspondence, click here.