Cancer, the crab, is one of the twelve constellations of the zodiac. Cancer is small and dim; too many, it does not resemble a crab. It lies between Gemini to the west and Leo to the east, Lynx to the north, and Canis Minor and Hydra to the south.
The brightest star in Cancer is ß Cancri, called Al Tarf ("the end" of the crab's leg). Cancer is best noted among stargazers as the home of Praesepe (M44), an open cluster called the Beehive Cluster or the Gate of Men, which contains the star Cancri.
In Greek mythology, Cancer was a brave little crab who tried to stop Heracles from defeating the Lernaean Hydra and was squashed for his efforts.
The astrological sign Cancer (June 21 - July 22) is associated with the constellation. In some cosmologies, Cancer is associated with the classical element Water, thus called a Water Sign (with Scorpio and Pisces). Its polar opposite is Capricorn. In the 1970s, there was a proposal to rename the zodiac sign, as some astrologers felt that an imagined association with the disease Cancer was off-putting. Some people with the sun sign of Cancer refer to themselves as moon children instead (the character is associated with the Moon in astrology). Cancer is a Cardinal Water sign and is the fourth stage of the evolutionary process of the zodiac. Cancer initiates (Cardinal) emotions (Water) and is the sign that a planet recognizes emotional needs and seeks ways to meet them.
Keywords for Cancer are "I FEEL."
