The Cetus Constellationby Ms. Lanette

•Cetus is the fourth largest constellation in the sky. • It has a bright star called Mira in the middle that

changes in brightness. It almost disappears sometimes.

•Mira means wonderful. • It is easier to see it in the fall.

•Even though Cetus means whale, most people see a ferocious toothy sea dragon!

•If you live in Brazil, you will see a jaguar instead of dragon. The jaguar stands for storms and hurricanes.

My Constellation Legend: Mirror Twinsby Ms. Lanette

My Star Legend: Once there two lions who were vain about their manes. Each one thought they were the most handsome! One had long flowing hair (Deneb) that blew in the wind. The second one had a mohawk (Menkar) which looked like a tall crown.

They would spend hours looking in the Mira (mirror) admiring themselves. Each one would brag for hours saying how wonderful their manes were. They drove all the other constellations crazy with their constant bragging!

Finally, one day it was decided by the sky gods they could only look in the Mira when it very bright. Every time they bragged, the Mira would get dimmer and dimmer until its light would disappear totally. In order for the Mira to grow bright again, the two lions had to compliment all the other constellations in the sky. This took a long time! Did the lions ever learn their lesson? No. Even to this day, the Mira is “hair today, gone tomorrow!”

The REAL Cetus Legend

 After Perseus had killed Medusa, he was carrying her ugly snake head home. He flew over Andromeda, a beautiful princess, chained to a rock by the sea because her mother Cassiopea bragged she was the most beautiful. Cetus, a terrible dragon, rose out of the sea ready to gulp Andromeda down in one bite. Perseus swooped down to take a closer look.  He fell in love with Andromeda. Just in time, Perseus showed the head of Medusa to Cetus, turning the dragon to stone. Perseus rescued Andromeda from her chains. It was love at first sight. They married and lived happily ever after.

My Bibliography• http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/

constellations/java/Cetus.html• http://www.astronomical.org/

portal/modules/wfsection/index.php?category=1

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cetus

• http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/cetus-p.html

• http://www.spacenow.org.uk/index.cfm?code=constell&constellID=80