Dim Delights in Cancer

Cancer the Crab is a dim constellation, yet it contains one of the most beautiful and easy-to-spot star clusters in our sky: the Beehive Cluster. Cancer also possesses one of the most studied exoplanets: the superhot super-Earth, 55 Cancri e.

Find Cancer's dim stars by looking in between the brighter neighboring constellations of Gemini and Leo. Don't get frustrated if you can't find it at first, since Cancer isn't easily visible from moderately light-polluted areas. Once you find Cancer, look for its most famous deep-sky object: the Beehive Cluster!

55 Cancri is a nearby binary star system, about 41 light-years from us and faintly visible under excellent dark sky conditions. The larger star is orbited by at least five planets, including 55 Cancri e (a. K.