Constellation, Cup
Crater
The cup of the god Apollo, sitting on the back of Hydra next to the crow. It is a faint figure, but its story links three constellations together.
From New York on October 13, 2026, the centre of Crater rises at 5:44 AM, is highest at 10:48 AM (33° above the horizon in the S) and sets at 3:56 PM.
In the 3D sky
The sky over New York turned towards Crater. Drag to look around.
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Evening visibility over the year
Height of the constellation’s centre above the horizon at 10 pm local time on the 15th of each month, from New York. Above about 30° it is well placed.
Name and history
In the best-known Greek story, Apollo gave his crow a cup and sent it for fresh water. The bird dawdled while it waited for figs to ripen, then returned with a water snake and blamed the snake for the delay. Apollo saw through the lie and cast the crow, the cup and the snake into the sky. The cup was placed so that the crow, beside it, could never drink. Crater, Corvus and Hydra still sit side by side in the sky as the story tells.
Its Greek name, krater, meant a bowl for mixing wine with water, and star maps draw it as a grand two-handled vessel tilted towards the crow. Ptolemy said the star at the base of the cup was shared with Hydra. Chinese astronomers joined its stars with some in Hydra into Yi, the wings of the Red Bird, which also named one of the lunar mansions.
Brightest stars
| Star | Designation | Magnitude | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| δ Crt | δ Crt | 3.56 | 186 light-years |
| γ Crt | γ Crt | 4.06 | 82 light-years |
| Alkes | α Crt | 4.08 | 159 light-years |
| β Crt | β Crt | 4.46 | 340 light-years |
| θ Crt | θ Crt | 4.70 | 280 light-years |
| ζ Crt | ζ Crt | 4.71 | 353 light-years |
| ε Crt | ε Crt | 4.81 | 376 light-years |
Facts
| Area | about 281 square degrees (53 of 88) |
|---|---|
| IAU abbreviation | Crt |
| Sky | Southern sky |
| Origin | Listed in Ptolemy’s Almagest, about AD 150, from older Greek tradition |
| Stars brighter than magnitude 5 | 7 |
| Centre (J2000) | 11.4 h, -16° |
Deep-sky objects
Galaxies, clusters and nebulae brighter than magnitude 9, from the OpenNGC catalogue. Most need binoculars or a telescope and a dark sky.
No deep-sky object brighter than magnitude 9.
Boundaries: International Astronomical Union, via Astronomy Engine. Areas are computed from the boundaries by sampling (within about one percent). Names and lines: Stellarium. Stars: HYG Database. Deep-sky objects: OpenNGC. Calculated with Astronomy Engine, an open-source library verified against the US Naval Observatory and NASA JPL. Data sources
How to use this page
Choose your place and a night at the top. The answer and the 3D view show where the constellation is, when it is highest and whether it rises at all from where you are. The chart shows its stars and lines, and the tables list its brightest stars and the deep-sky objects inside it.
Frequently asked questions
When is a constellation best seen?
When it is highest in a dark sky, which the page gives for the night you pick. Each constellation is best placed in a particular season, because the stars rise about four minutes earlier every night.
Why can I not see a constellation from my place?
Constellations far south of the celestial equator never rise from northern places, and those far north never rise from southern ones. The page says when this is the case.
What are the constellation boundaries?
The International Astronomical Union divides the sky into 88 areas with official boundaries. The stick figures are only a drawing aid, the boundaries say which constellation a point in the sky belongs to.
Related guides
- How to learn the constellationsStart with one bright pattern you cannot miss, use it as a signpost to its neighbours, and come back a month later: the sky will have turned, and you will know a little more of it.
- Altitude and azimuth: finding things in the skyTwo angles tell you exactly where to look: which direction, and how high.
- Light pollution and dark skies: the Bortle scaleFrom a city centre you can count a few dozen stars. From a truly dark site you can count a few thousand, with the Milky Way bright enough to cast a shadow. The Bortle scale puts a number on the difference.
- Binoculars for stargazing: what to buy and what to look atA pair of 7x50 or 10x50 binoculars shows the craters of the Moon, the moons of Jupiter, dozens of star clusters and the Andromeda Galaxy, for a fraction of the cost of a telescope.