Thursday,  April 18, 2013 • Vol. 14--No. 273 • 17 of 41 •  Other Editions

(Continued from page 16)

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 18, 2013. 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 stars Regulus, Castor and Pollux.

© 2013 Groton Daily Independent • To send correspondence, click here.