Month Best Visible
November
Hemisphere Visible
Northern and Southern
This constellation's most notable star is Mira, the first variable star to be discovered. Cetus lies far from the galactic plane, so that many distant galaxies are visible, unobscured by dust from the Milky Way. Of these, the brightest is Messier 77 (NGC 1068), a 9th magnitude spiral galaxy near δ Ceti.
In Greek mythology, the name Cetus refers to a sea monster, although it is often called 'the whale' today. Cetus is located in the region of the sky known as the Water, along with other watery constellations such as Aquarius, Pisces, and Eridanus.
