Canis Minor and Canis Major

Canis Minor Constellation Canis Minor is a constellation in the northern sky. 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. The other dog is represented by the larger constellation Canis Major. 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.

Facts, Location 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.

Mythology 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 Constellation 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.

Facts, Location 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

Mythology 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.