Talk:Cancer (constellation)

Is this a scientific or an astrological article?

I don't understand why in an astrinomical article there should be this bullshit about its astrological meaning! Since when did astrology become a science? - signed by anon IP

It haws precedent. This article is covering what people believe, not necessarily what is true. Perhaps you should go complain about the articles on every major religion too, while you're at it. - signed by anon IP

In modern English, Cancer is always associated with the crab, but I'm not sure that this is true of the ancients. Many European countries (Germany, the Netherlands, and probably others) use a picture of a lobster or crayfish for the astrological sign Cancer, and Linnaeus, when first naming crabs, lobsters, crayfish and so on, called them all Cancer, with crabs being "short-tailed Cancer" and lobsters being "long-tailed Cancer". Can anyone comment on the true meaning of the Greek or Latin word cancer - whether it was really exclusively crabs? The constellation doesn't look like a crab anyway, so mightn't it be a lobster? Stemonitis 10:15, 24 Feb 2005 (UTC)

I've just had another look at the constellation picture, and it is much more like a lobster than a crab. Picture it this way: the line from ι Cancri, through γ Cancri, to δ Cancri is the main body of the lobster, with ι Cancri being the tail end. The lines from δ Cancri to α Cancri and β Cancri are then the two claws. They're a bit asymmetrical, but so what (also, lobsters often have asymmetrical claws, albeit not by so much). Stemonitis 10:27, 24 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Named Stars

Why is Zeta Cancri not included in Notable Features? It has a proper name (Tegmeni). - signed by anon IP

Cancer also depicted as a dog (Canis Minor original?)

Some astronomers and astrologers, and due to sensitivity of the word "Cancer" (reminded of the disease) by some people, they believe the constellation was also named Canis (Minor?) or connected with Procyon of the Canis Minor constellation we're more familiar with. 71.102.3.122 (talk) 06:43, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

Nope, Cancer originated as an unspecified "water animal" in pre-Babylonian times (see Babylonian star catalogues#Zodiacal constellations). I prefer the doctors change the name of their disease to something like "degenerative cell chaos", the AL.LUL of the MUL.APIN star catalogue take precedence. Rursus dixit. (^mbork³!) 09:16, 31 December 2011 (UTC)

Symbology

HI... Why are the symbols the ones from Stargate-SG1? I think it's not wise to mix history and fiction... (But dont' know how to edit)

I've removed it. Thanks. --BorgQueen 08:39, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

History and mythology

We don't need both a History and a Mythology section. They should be merged. Skeptic2 (talk) 23:38, 12 July 2008 (UTC)

Yes I think so. Rursus dixit. (^mbork³!) 09:18, 31 December 2011 (UTC)

more info and pics

you need more info and pics on this web site[http://www.example.com link title'

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Sign your posts with ~~~~. Rursus dixit. (^mbork³!) 09:18, 31 December 2011 (UTC)

References

Contradictory information

"Cancer is relatively big among the constellations with an area of 1009 square degrees and its stars are rather bright."

This is simply incorrect and contradicts information later in the article. Cancer is the dimmest of the Zodiacal constellations and is much smaller than that.Syd Henderson (talk) 04:17, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

Problem section

The section notable features has a chunk of text added last year which is unformatted and contains what look like footnotes. It needs to be overhauled but is there enough suspicion to remove it as a copyvio? Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 07:45, 19 March 2014 (UTC)

Nevermind - chopped up and integrated....Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 03:51, 20 March 2014 (UTC)

File:Sidney Hall - Urania's Mirror - Cancer.jpg to appear as POTD soon

Hello! This is a note to let the editors of this article know that File:Sidney Hall - Urania's Mirror - Cancer.jpg will be appearing as picture of the day on September 5, 2017. You can view and edit the POTD blurb at Template:POTD/2017-09-05. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page. — Chris Woodrich (talk) 01:49, 26 August 2017 (UTC)

Picture of the day

Cancer is a medium-size constellation and one of the twelve constellations of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for crab, and it is commonly represented as one. Cancer's stars are rather faint, with its brightest star Beta Cancri having an apparent magnitude of 3.5. It contains two stars with known planets. Located at the center of the constellation is Praesepe (Messier 44), one of the closest open clusters to Earth and a popular target for amateur astronomers.

Cancer is shown here as depicted in Urania's Mirror, a set of constellation cards published in London in about 1825.Illustration: Sidney Hall; restoration: Adam Cuerden

σ⁴ Cancri?

In the cover picture in the infobox, the star 66 Cancri is labelled as σ⁴ Cancri. Is that a real designation? It is not listed in most catalogues. Astronomical Editor (talk) 02:45, 4 February 2024 (UTC)

I can't find it in SIMBAD, so I think you're right that it is not a recognized designation. However the chart is from Sky & Telescope so I don't think there's much we can do about it.Skeptic2 (talk) 21:03, 20 February 2024 (UTC)