The Cetus was a sea monster in Greek mythology which both Perseus and Heracles needed to slay.

Many asteroids in belts have longer phases occulting the north-western part of Cetus, those with a slightly greater inclination to the ecliptic than the Moon and planets.

[2] α Ceti, traditionally called Menkar ("the nose"), is a red-hued giant star of magnitude 2.5, 220 light-years from Earth.

[2] Cetus lies far from the galactic plane, so that many distant galaxies are visible, unobscured by dust from the Milky Way.

IC 1613 (Caldwell 51) is an irregular dwarf galaxy near the star 26 Ceti and is a member of the Local Group.

NGC 246 (Caldwell 56), also called the "Cetus Ring",[7] is a planetary nebula with a magnitude of 8.0 at 1600 light-years from Earth.

[8] The Wolf–Lundmark–Melotte (WLM) is a barred irregular galaxy discovered in 1909 by Max Wolf, located on the outer edges of the Local Group.

It is often now called the Whale, though it is most strongly associated with Cetus the sea-monster, who was slain by Perseus as he saved the princess Andromeda from Poseidon's wrath.

It is in the middle of "The Sea" recognised by mythologists, a set of water-associated constellations, its other members being Eridanus, Pisces, Piscis Austrinus and Aquarius.

The Tukano and Kobeua people of the Amazon used the stars of Cetus to create a jaguar, representing the god of hurricanes and other violent storms.

[12] USS Cetus (AK-77) was a United States Navy Crater class cargo ship named after the constellation.