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Constellation
Cetus - The Sea Monster
Constellation:
Cetus
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Object name: Cetus
Equatorial: RA: 01h 25m 30s Dec: -11°19'03"(current)
Equatorial 2000: RA: 01h 25m 12s Dec: -11°21'00"
Sky Database: Constellation
Abbreviation: Cet
Genitive Form: Ceti
Description: The Sea Monster
Pronunciation: SEE' tuhs
Genitive Pronunciation: SEE' ty
Cetus - The Sea Monster
It is said that
Cetus the sea monster was sent by
Poseidon to attack the coastal lands of the kingdom of
Cepheus. King
Cepheus' wife Cassiopeia, had
boasted that she was more beautiful than
the Nereids, a group of fifty or so sea nymphs who were said to be
the most gorgeous creatures in the world. In an act of vengeance,
the Nereids contacted the sea god Poseidon who sent
Cetus to the land of King
Cepheus. King
Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia
chained their daughter Andromeda to the
coastal rocks as a sacrifice to appease the sea monster
Cetus.
Cetus is described by mythologists
as a creature with the head and forelegs of a land animal and the
body of a sea animal. As the monster was approaching the
chained Andromeda Perseus swooped in
riding on Pegasus
the Winged Horse and killed the sea monster by using the head of
the evil monster Medusa whom Perseus had recently decapitated.
The
constellation
Cetus contains the star Mira.
Mira was the first variable star
ever discovered. Variable stars change in brightness
over time and some with great regularity over periods ranging from
days to even years. The star Mira has a period of approximately 389
days.
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