Cancer: The Crab Essay, Research Paper

Cancer: The Crab

Cancer is a constellation, also known as the crab. You can

see the stars that make up cancer during the winter in the eastern

hemisphere.

Cancer got its name from a Greek myth about “crabs.” The

Crab fought the Greek hero heracles (Hercules) as he attacked the

Hydra, and many-headed monsters.

This constellation is a zodiacal constellation. That is one of

the constellation in the ecliptic. The apparent annual path of the

sun though the sky.

Ancient Greeks discovered that the sun entered Cancer at the

Summer solstice. At which time the sun is 23 degrees and 27

inches north. For that reason, that parallel of latitude was called

the Tropic of Cancer. Which is a loose cluster of more than 300

faint stars, known as Praesepe or the Beehive, is a feature of the

constellation.