| Constellation | |
List of stars in Canes Venatici |
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| Abbreviation | CVn |
|---|---|
| Genitive | Canum Venaticorum |
| Pronunciation | /ˈkeɪniːz vɨˈnætɨsaɪ/ Cánes Venátici, genitive /ˈkeɪnəm vɨnætɨˈkɒrəm/ |
| Symbolism | the Hunting Dogs |
| Right ascension | 13 h |
| Declination | +40° |
| Quadrant | NQ3 |
| Area | 465 sq. deg. (38th) |
| Main stars | 2 |
| Bayer/Flamsteed stars |
21 |
| Stars with planets | 1 |
| Stars brighter than 3.00m | 1 |
| Stars within 10.00 pc (32.62 ly) | 2 |
| Brightest star | Cor Caroli (α CVn) (2.90m) |
| Nearest star | DG CVn (25.89 ly, 7.94 pc) |
| Messier objects | 5 |
| Meteor showers | Canes Venaticids |
| Bordering constellations |
Ursa Major Boötes Coma Berenices |
| Visible at latitudes between +90° and −40°. Best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of May. |
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Canes Venatici ( /ˈkeɪniːz vɨˈnætɨsaɪ/) is one of the 88 official modern constellations. It is a small northern constellation that was created by Johannes Hevelius in the 17th century. Its name is Latin for "hunting dogs", and the constellation is often depicted in illustrations as representing the dogs of Boötes the Herdsman, a neighboring constellation.
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The stars of Canes Venatici are not bright. In classical times, they were included by Ptolemy within the constellation Ursa Major in his star catalogue. α CVn was Ptolemy's "28th of Ursa Major", and β CVn was his "29th of Ursa Major".
In the medieval times, the identification of these stars with the dogs of Boötes arose through a mistranslation. Some of Boötes' stars were traditionally described as representing the club (Greek, Κολλοροβος) of Boötes. When the Greek astronomer Ptolemy's Almagest was translated from Greek to Arabic, the translator Johannitius (following Alberuni) did not know the Greek word and rendered it as the nearest-looking Arabic word, writing العصى ذات الكلاب in ordinary unvowelled Arabic text "al-`aşā dhāt al-kullāb", which means "the spearshaft having a hook". When the Arabic text was translated into Latin, the translator Gerard of Cremona (probably in Spain) mistook the Arabic word كلاب for kilāb (the plural of كلب kalb), meaning "dogs", writing hastile habens canes ("spearshaft having dogs").[1][2] In 1533, the German astronomer Peter Apian depicted Boötes as having two dogs with him.[3][4]
These spurious dogs floated about the astronomical literature until Hevelius decided to specify their presence in the sky by making them a separate constellation.[5] Hevelius chose the name Asterion (from the Greek 'αστέριον, meaning the "little star",[6] the diminutive of 'αστηρ the "star", or adjective meaning "starry"[7]) for the northern dog and Chara (from the Greek χαρά, meaning "joy") for the southern dog, as Canes Venatici, the Hunting Dogs, in his star atlas.[8] In his star catalogue, the Czech astronomer Becvar assigned Asterion to β CVn and Chara to α CVn.[9]
Canes Venatici contains no bright stars, α and β CVn being only of 3rd and 4th magnitude respectively. The constellation's brightest star is Cor Caroli (α² CVn), named by Sir Charles Scarborough in memory of King Charles I, the deposed king of Britain.[10] It is of magnitude 2.90.
La Superba (Y CVn) is a semiregular variable star that varies between magnitudes 4.7 and 6.2 over a period of around 158 days. It is a carbon star and is famous for being deep red. AM CVn, a very blue star of magnitude 14, is the prototype of a special class of cataclysmic variable stars, in which the companion star is a white dwarf, rather than a main sequence star. RS CVn is the prototype of a special class of binary stars[11] of chromospherically active and optically variable components.
Canes Venatici contains five Messier objects, including four galaxies. One of the more significant galaxies in Canes Venatici is the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51, NGC 5194) and NGC 5195, a small barred spiral galaxy that is seen face on. This was the first galaxy recognised as having a spiral structure, this structure being first observed by Lord Rosse in 1845.
Other notable spiral galaxies in Canes Venatici are the Sunflower Galaxy (M63, NGC 5055), Messier 94 (NGC 4736), and Messier 106 (NGC 4258).
Messier 3 (NGC 5272) is a globular cluster. It is 18' in diameter, and at magnitude 6.3 is bright enough to be seen with binoculars.
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