Position
in the Sky
Right Ascension: 2 hours Declination: -10 degrees Visible between latitudes
70 and -90 degrees Best seen in December (at 9:00 PM) Named Stars
Cetus
deserves mention because some say the constellation represents the sea monster
sent to Ethiopia as punishment for the boasting of Queen Cassiopeia. The monster
nearly kills Andromeda, daughter of Cassiopeia and Cepheus, but is itself killed
by the hero Perseus. More frequently, though, Cetus is represented as a whale,
which implies no connection to the Andromeda myth. Either way, the constellation
is appropriately a large one, and is relegated to the southern sky--far from
Andromeda, Cepheus, Cassiopeia, and Perseus.
