Crater the Cup is certainly one of two constellations using on the again of Hydra the Water Snake. You may spot Crater, together with Corvus the Crow, on April evenings towards the southwestern horizon. For these within the Southern Hemisphere, Hydra is slithering down towards the western horizon with Crater and Corvus clinging to the north facet of the Water Snake.
Attempt Stellarium for a extra exact star charts out of your location.
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Mythology of Crater the Cup
In mythology, Crater was the cup from which Apollo drank. Apollo was a well known Greek god whose job was to hold the sun throughout the sky every day. As you may think about, it was a scorching and laborious process. So, Apollo requested his pet crow, Corvus, to fetch him some water to drink as a result of he was drained and overheated. However Corvus was not a very good pet and didn’t do as Apollo wished.
Corvus flew away on his mission, and whereas gone he noticed a tree with berries. Then he spent a few days consuming the berries earlier than lastly returning with the water. Additionally, he introduced alongside a water snake, making up a narrative that the water snake attacked him and this was the explanation for his delay. Nevertheless, Apollo didn’t consider his lie and positioned him within the sky by the cup. Now Corvus the Crow all the time has the cup in his sights however can by no means drink from it himself.
Finding Crater
In the event you draw a line between the intense stars Spica in Virgo and Regulus in Leo, Crater is about halfway between them and to the south.
In fact, in case you’re aware of Hydra the Water Snake, you could find Crater towards the center of the snake’s physique, positioned upon its again.
The celebrities of Crater
As a matter of truth, none of Crater’s stars are significantly shiny. Crater the Cup’s brightest star is Delta Crateris at magnitude 3.56. Delta Crateris lies at a distance of 195 light-years. Gamma Crateris is a magnitude 4.05 star mendacity 89 light-years away. Barely dimmer is Alkes, or Alpha Crateris, at magnitude 4.08. It lies 174 light-years away. The Beta star is a dim 4.46 magnitude at a distance of 266 light-years.
So all of those stars are onerous to see in city and different light-polluted areas. Thus, you’ll need to discover a dark-sky location close to you to seek out the Cup.
Backside line: Crater the Cup is a dim constellation that sits upon the again of Hydra the Water Snake. You may see Crater greatest on April evenings from a dark-sky website.
