Cancer

Mythology

According to an ancient Greek legend, the figure of a crab was placed in the night sky by the goddess Hera to form the constellation of Cancer. Hera promised to kill Heracles, the most famous Greek hero. She tried to kill Heracles in many different ways, but each time his incredible physical strength allowed him to survive. Hera cast a spell from the madness of Heracles, which makes him commit a great crime. In order to be forgiven, he had to perform twelve difficult tasks. One of these tasks was to destroy the terrible nine-headed water-serpent Hydra.

During the battle between Heracles and the Hydra, the goddess Hera sent a crab to help the snake. But Heracles, being so strong, killed the crab by smashing his shell with his foot. As a reward for their services, Hera placed the crab's image in the night sky.

The fixed stars of Cancer the past had marked the position of the sun in the June solstice. To the Mesopotamians, this key position marked the portal through which souls descend from the incarnation. This analogy is very similar to the Egyptian tradition, in which the constellation of Cancer was the sun god Khepri, celestial personification of the scarab, symbol of fertility, life and rebirth.

Cancer is one of the constellations of the zodiac signs are not very visible, in fact, a constellation that is hard to see unless you have a light pollution of the sky clear and no moon, much more.

This constellation has its culmination in the North hemisphere in late January and early February, soon to be easier to see.

Stars:

At Tarf (β CNC)

Assellus Australis (δ CNC)

Acubens (CNC α)

Assellus Borealis (γ CNC)