Cetus

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Star Diagram

About Cetus

Cetus, the whale or the sea monster, is the fabled creature sent by Neptune to devour Andromeda. It was turned to stone when Perseus showed the it the head of Medusa. Pliney and Solinus wrote that the monsters bones were taken to Rome by Scaurus, and that the skeleton measured forty feet in length with vertebrae six feet in circumference. Cetus actually occurs in writing long before the Greeks, and some debate has insued over whether the sea monster was actually Draco, Hydra or Serpens. Cetus is sometimes drawn swimming in the river Eridanus, but is more often drawn resting on the banks of the river with its forepaws dipping into the river.

Named Stars

Messier Objects

Neighboring Constellations