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Canis Minor is a constellation in the northern sky.
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Its name means “the smaller dog” or “lesser dog” in Latin. The constellation
represents one of the dogs following Orion, the hunter in Greek mythology.
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The other dog is represented by the larger constellation Canis Major.
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Canis Minor was first catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd
century. It contains Procyon, one of the brightest stars in the night sky.
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Canis Minor is the 71st largest constellation in the sky, occupying an
area of 183 square degrees.
It lies in the second quadrant of the northern hemisphere (NQ2) and
can be seen at latitudes between +90° and -75°.
The neighboring constellations are Cancer, Gemini, Hydra,
and Monoceros.
Canis Minor does not contain any Messier objects nor does it have
any stars with known planets.
The brightest star in the constellation is Procyon, Alpha Canis Minoris,
which is also the seventh brightest star in the sky.
There is one meteor shower associated with the constellation, the
Canis-Minorids.
Canis Minor belongs to the Orion family of constellations, along
with Canis Major, Lepus, Monoceros, and Oion.
Canis Minor is most commonly identified as one of the dogs following Orion, the hunter in Greek
myth.
In another legend, the constellation is said to represent Maera, dog of the unlucky wine-maker
Icarius, who was killed by his friends after they had mistaken drunkenness for a murder attempt,
thinking Icarius had tried to poison them. (They had never tasted wine before.)
Maera, Icarius’ dog, found his body and ran to his daughter Erigone. Both the daughter and the
dog were overwhelmed with grief and took their own lives. Erigone hanged herself and the
dog jumped off a cliff. Zeus later placed their images in the sky. In this version of the
constellation myth, Icarius is associated with Boötes, the Herdsman, Erigone with
the constellation Virgo, and Maera with Canis Minor.
Hyginus (Latin author who lived at the turn of the millennium) confused the myth somewhat in his
writings. He wrote that Icarius’ murderers escaped to the island of Ceos and, as punishment for
their misdeed, the island was stricken with sickness and famine, which were attributed to the
searing Dog Star, Sirius. (Procyon is mistaken for Sirius here, the other dog star, located in Canis
Major.)
When Aristaeus, King of Ceos asked the god Apollo, who was also his father, for advice on saving
his people from starving to death, he was told to pray to Zeus. Aristaeus did so and Zeus sent
Etesian winds to the island. Every year, the myth goes, Etesian winds blow for 40 days and cool
Greece and its islands during the Dog Days of summer. After Zeus had sent relief to Ceos, the
priests instituted the custom of making ritual sacrifices to the gods every year before the rising
of Sirius.
In yet another myth, Canis Minor is identified as the Teumessian fox, the animal that could not be
outrun, and was eventually turned into stone by Zeus, who also turned its hunter, Laelaps, to
stone. (Laelaps was an extremely fast dog, destined to always catch its prey. In the myth, the
dog is represented by the constellation Canis Major.) To commemorate the event, Zeus
placed both animals in the sky.
Canis Major is a constellation in the southern sky. Its name means “the
greater dog” in Latin and it represents the bigger dog following Orion, the
mythical hunter.
 Canis Major was catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd
century.
 The constellation is home to Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, as well as
several notable deep sky objects: the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy, the open
cluster Messier 41, the emission nebula NGC 2359 (also known as Thor’s
Helmet), and the colliding spiral galaxies NGC 2207 and IC 2163.
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The constellation is home to Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, as well as several notable deep sky
objects: the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy, the open cluster Messier 41, the emission nebula NGC 2359 (also
known as Thor’s Helmet), and the colliding spiral galaxies NGC 2207 and IC 2163.
The constellation is home to Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, as well as several notable deep sky
objects: the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy, the open cluster Messier 41, the emission nebula NGC 2359 (also
known as Thor’s Helmet), and the colliding spiral galaxies NGC 2207 and IC 2163.
The constellation is home to Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, as well as several notable deep sky
objects: the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy, the open cluster Messier 41, the emission nebula NGC 2359 (also
known as Thor’s Helmet), and the colliding spiral galaxies NGC 2207 and IC 2163.
Canis Major contains one Messier object, the star cluster Messier 41 (NGC 2287), and has four stars with
known planets.
The brightest star in Canis Major, Sirius (Alpha Canis Majoris), is also the brightest star in the night sky.
Canis Major belongs to the Orion family of constellations, along with Canis Minor, Lepus, Monoceros,
and Orion
Canis Major is commonly taken to represent the “greater dog” following the
hunter Orion in Greek myth. The constellation is depicted as a dog standing
on its hind legs, pursuing a hare, represented by the constellation Lepus.
Canis Major was described by Manilius as “the dog with the blazing face”
because the dog appears to hold Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, in its
jaws.
In mythology, Canis Major is associated with Laelaps, the fastest dog in the world,
one destined to catch anything it pursued. Zeus gave Laelaps to Europa as a
present, along with a javelin that could not miss. The gift proved to be an
unfortunate one, as Europa herself was killed accidentally by her husband
Cephalus, who was out hunting with the javelin.
Cephalus took the dog to Thebes in Boeotia (a Greek province north of Athens)
to hunt down a fox that was causing some trouble there. Like Laelaps, the fox
was extremely fast and was destined never to be caught. Once the dog
found the fox and started chasing it, the race did not appear to have an
end in sight. Zeus himself finally ended it and turned both animals to stone.
He placed the dog in the night sky as the constellation Canis Major.