Crater (constellation)
| Constellation | |
|
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| Abbreviation | Crt |
|---|---|
| Genitive | Crateris |
| Pronunciation |
/ˈkreɪtər/, genitive /krəˈtiːrᵻs/ |
| Symbolism | the cup |
| Right ascension | 11 |
| Declination | −16 |
| Family | Hercules |
| Quadrant | SQ2 |
| Area | 282 sq. deg. (53rd) |
| Main stars | 4 |
|
Bayer/Flamsteed stars |
12 |
| Stars with planets | 7 |
| Stars brighter than 3.00m | 0 |
| Stars within 10.00 pc (32.62 ly) | 0 |
| Brightest star | δ Crt (Labrum) (3.57m) |
| Nearest star |
LHS 2358 (34.86 ly, 10.69 pc) |
| Messier objects | 0 |
| Meteor showers | Eta Craterids |
| Bordering constellations |
Leo Sextans Hydra Corvus Virgo |
|
Visible at latitudes between +65° and −90°. Best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of April. |
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Crater is a small constellation in the Southern Celestial Hemisphere. Its name means "cup" in Latin. One of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, it depicts a cup that has been associated with the god Apollo and is perched on the back of Hydra the water snake.
There is no star brighter than third magnitude. Its two brightest stars, Delta Crateris of magnitude 3.56 and Alpha Crateris of magnitude 4.07, are ageing orange giant stars that are cooler and larger than the Sun. Beta Crateris is a binary star system composed of a white main sequence star and a white dwarf. Seven star systems have been found to host planets. The Crater 2 dwarf galaxy is a nearby satellite galaxy of the Milky Way.
In the Babylonian star catalogues dating from at least 1100 BCE, the stars of Crater were possibly incorporated with those of the crow Corvus in the Babylonian Raven (MUL.UGA.MUSHEN). John H. Rogers observed that the adjoining constellation Hydra signified Ningishzida, the god of the underworld in the Babylonian compendium MUL.APIN. He proposed that Corvus and Crater (along with the water snake Hydra) were death symbols and marked the gate to the underworld. These two constellations, along with the eagle Aquila and the fish Piscis Austrinus, were introduced to the Greeks around 500 BCE; they marked the winter and summer solstices respectively. Furthermore, Hydra had been a landmark as it had straddled the celestial equator in antiquity. Corvus and Crater also featured in the iconography of Mithraism, which is thought to have been of middle-eastern origin before spreading into Ancient Greece and Rome.
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