Cancer Minor (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

for "lesser crab") was a constellation composed from a few stars in Gemini adjacent to

Cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bl ...

. The constellation was introduced in 1612 (or 1613) by

Petrus Plancius Petrus Plancius (; 1552 – 15 May 1622) was a Dutch-Flemish astronomer, cartographer and clergyman. He was born as Pieter Platevoet in Dranouter, now in Heuvelland, West Flanders. He studied theology in Germany and England. At the age of 2 ...

.atlascoelestis.com, Felice Stoppa: Le costellazioni di Petrus Plancius
/ref> The 5th-magnitude stars constituting Cancer Minor were

HIP 36616 HD 59686 is a binary star system in the northern constellation of Gemini. It is visible to the naked eye as a dim point of light with an apparent visual magnitude of +5.45. The distance to this system is approximately 292 light ...

, and 68, 74, 81 and

85 Geminorum 85 may refer to: * 85 (number) * one of the years 85 BC, AD 85, 1885, 1985, 2085 See also * * M85 (disambiguation), including "Model 85" * 1985 (disambiguation) * List of highways numbered A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or ...

, forming a faint natural arrow-shaped asterism. Cancer Minor 1681

It is only found on a few 17th-century Dutch

celestial globe Celestial globes show the apparent place, apparent positions of the stars in the sky. They omit the Sun, Moon, and planets because the positions of these bodies vary relative to those of the stars, but the ecliptic, along which the Sun moves, is ...

s and in the atlas of

Andreas Cellarius Andreas Cellarius (–1665) was a Dutch–German cartographer and cosmographer best known for his 1660 '' Harmonia Macrocosmica'', a major star atlas. Life He was born in Neuhausen, and was educated in Heidelberg. The Protestant Cellariu ...

. It was no longer used after the 18th century.

References

Former constellations Constellations listed by Petrus Plancius Dutch celestial cartography in the Age of Discovery Astronomy in the Dutch Republic 1610s in the Dutch Republic {{former-constellation-stub