Crater

The constellation of Crater, "The Cup" must be one of the most boring regions of the whole heavens. This group was introduced by the Greeks, and is meant to represent the cup that contains "nectar" the drink of the gods, which Hebe the cupbearer brought in daily to Zeus. Hebe eventually fell out of favour with the king of the gods, but why the cup was placed in the sky is one of the mysteries of life. Why such a paltry object such as this, with little significance should merit a place in the sky is a mystery, even the constellation is not particularly well defined, but consists of a number of 4th and 5th magnitude stars that looks nothing like a cup, but rather more like the dish of a radio telescope laid on its side!

Notable Objects

IC1396 a large region of nebulosity. The elephant trunk Nebula IC1396 is a dark dense globule with a bright sinuos rim. The Iris Nebula NGC7023. Star cluster NGC188 and a galaxy NGC6946 commonly referred to as the fireworks Galaxy.