In mid of april Cancer can be observed best in the evening at about 20 h local time
between the constellations
Leo and
Gemini.
The position is in the zodiac, i.e. in the plane of our solar system. So the sun, moon,
and planets are frequently crossing this constellation.
Cancers appearance is quite faint
(see lines),
Alpha Cancri has a visual magnitude of just 4.2 mag.
But a striking feature is the Open Star Cluster M 44,
visible right in the center of the photography.
By naked eye the cluster, also called Praesepe or the Beehive Cluster,
can be seen as a fuzzy patch in the sky. But a small pair of binoculars already offers the
stellar nature of this object.
