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| Cetus | |
| Abbreviation | Cet |
| Genitive | Ceti |
| Meaning in English | the Whale or Sea Monster |
| Right ascension | 1.42 h |
| Declination | −11.35° |
| Visible to latitude | Between 70° and −90° |
| Best visible | November |
| Area - Total | Ranked 4th 1,231 sq. deg. |
| Number of stars with apparent magnitude < 3 | 3 |
| Brightest star - Apparent magnitude | Deneb Kaitos (β Cet) 2.04 Note: Mira (ο Cet) is magnitude 2.0 at its brightest. |
| Meteor showers | |
| Bordering constellations |
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Cetus (the Whale or Sea Monster) is a constellationOrion is a remarkable constellation, visible from most places on the globe (but not always the whole year long). A constellation is a group of stars visibly related to each other in a particular configuration. In three-dimensional space, most of the stars of the southern sky, in the region known as the Water , near other watery constellations like Aquarius, Pisces, and Eridanus.
This constellation's most notable starFor alternate meanings see star (disambiguation Hubble Space Telescope of the Sagittarius Star Cloud in the Milky Way Galaxy. A star is any massive gaseous celestial body in outer space. Stars appear as shining points in the nighttime sky that twinkle bec is Mira, ο Ceti, the first variable star to be discovered. Over a period of 331.65 days it varies from magnitude 2.0, one of the brightest in the sky and easily visible to the unaided eye, to 10.1 and back again. Its discovery in 1596 by David Fabricius further dented the unchangeability of the heavens and lent support to the Copernican revolution .
Other stars in the constellation include the α star, Menkar; the β star, Deneb Kaitos, brightest in the constellation; and τ Ceti, the 17th closest star to Earth.
The ecliptic passes very close to the constellation. Some of the planets can be in this constellation for brief periods of time. The asteroid 4 Vesta was discovered in this constellation in 1827.