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Sky Chart and Artist Rendering of Canis Major
Origin:
Canis Major is an ancient constellation containing the brightest star
visible in the Earth's sky, Sirius. The star is actually more
important than the constellation since its rising marked harvests and
celebrations. It's appearance at dawn signaled the ancient Egyptian
new year. The ancient Egyptians also believed that the coming
flooding of the Nile River was caused by the "power" of the star
Sirius.
In antiquity, Sirius, the Dog Star, was
already associated with the Sun since the Sun is in that part of the sky
during the summer months. The ancients thought that the heat of
Sirius added to the heat of the Sun. Legend has it that this is why
we call the hottest days of summer the "dog days.
Information:
Canis Major transits at around 9 pm mid-February. Canis major can
hardly be missed since it is so near Orion and it
contains the bright blue-white star Sirius with a magnitude of -1.5
(smaller magnitudes are brighter; a negative magnitude is very
bright). The Milky Way passes through part of Canis Major making it
a good constellation to explore with binoculars or a telescope.
Sirius is a close star at a mere 8.6 light years away. Sirius is
also a binary star system which is difficult to resolve not because of the
closeness of the stars but, rather, the extreme differences in brightness
between the two stars.
Sirius is one of the three stars in the
"Winter Triangle", the others being Betelgeuse (Orion) and Procyon (Canis
Minor).
Mythology:
Canis Major and Canis Minor, Orion's hunting dogs, are merely footnotes in
mythology. In one myth, the largest of Orion's two hunting dogs
might be chasing Lepus (the Rabbit) who is at
Orion's feet or, perhaps, is there to help Orion do battle with Taurus (the Bull). In another myth, the Great
Dog won a race against a fox so, in celebration, Zeus placed the Dog in
the heavens. |
