Crater constellation
Latin Crater, genitive Crateris, abbreviation Crt
North up, east to the left, as you see the sky. The lines are a common figure; the stars are from the catalogue.
The myth
Apollo's cup, which the raven was supposed to fill with water. In the sky it stands beside the raven on the back of the Water Snake, out of the raven's reach. Faint, low in the south in spring.
When can Crater be seen?
It stands highest around 10 pm in April. It can be seen from everywhere south of 64°N, and it never sets south of 80°S.
The brightest stars
| Star | Designation | Magnitude | Colour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Labr | δ Crt | 3.56 | orange |
| Alkes | α Crt | 4.08 | orange |
| – | γ Crt | 4.08 | white |
| Al Sharasif | β Crt | 4.48 | white |
| – | θ Crt | 4.70 | bluish |
| – | ζ Crt | 4.73 | yellow |
| – | ε Crt | 4.83 | reddish |
The smaller the number, the brighter: below 1 are the brightest stars of the sky, 4 is hard to see under a city sky. Greek letters after Johann Bayer (1603).