None Monoceros Lepus Columba Puppis Canis Major (Latin for the greater dog) is one of the 88 modern constellations, and was also in Ptolemy's list of 48 constellations. It is said to represent one of the dogs following Orion the hunter (see also the constellations of Orion, Canis Minor, and Canes Venatici.) Canis Major contains Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, and that star is part of the Winter Triangle. Canis Major - Notable features. < ...

Including:

• Canis Major - Notable features
• Canis Major - Notable deep sky objects
• Canis Major - Mythology
• Canis Major - Stars
• Canis Major - Other uses of the name

Read more here: » Canis Major: Encyclopedia - Canis Major

At first sight, stars seem to be in fixed positions with respect to each other, meaning they always form the same figures, and (for example) Ursa Major looks the same now as forty years ago. More careful observation shows that the constellations change shape very slowly, and that each star has an independent motion. This motion is caused by the true movement of the stars relative to the Sun and solar system through space. It is measured by two quantities: the proper motion angle and the proper motion itself. The first qu ...

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Proper motion, Proper motion - Introduction, Proper motion - History, Proper motion - Stars with high proper motion

Read more here: » Proper motion: Encyclopedia II - Proper motion - Introduction

Constellations listed by Ptolemy Constellations changed by Augustin Royer in 1679 ...

See also:

Canis Major, Canis Major - Notable features, Canis Major - Notable deep sky objects, Canis Major - Mythology, Canis Major - Stars, Canis Major - Other uses of the name

Read more here: » Canis Major: Encyclopedia II - Canis Major - Stars

There aren't many bright deep sky objects in this region of sky. The only Messier object in Canis Major is M41 (NGC 2287), an open cluster of visual magnitude 4.6. It is located about 4 degrees directly south of Sirius. Canis Major Dwarf is a recently-discovered dwarf galaxy orbiting the Milky Way, in the constellation. ...

See also:

Canis Major, Canis Major - Notable features, Canis Major - Notable deep sky objects, Canis Major - Mythology, Canis Major - Stars, Canis Major - Other uses of the name

Read more here: » Canis Major: Encyclopedia II - Canis Major - Notable deep sky objects

This constellation was known to the easterners from the time immemorial. In early European classical days, this constellation represented Laelaps, Acteon's hound; or sometimes the hound of Procris, Diana's nymph; or the one given by Aurora to Cephalus, so famed for its speed that Zeus elevated it to the sky. Most commonly, Canis Major (or perhaps just the star Sirius) is Orion's hunting dog, pursuing Lepus the hare or helping Orion fight Taurus the bull, and is referred to in this way by Aratos, Homer and Hesiod. The ancient Greeks refer only to one dog, but by Roman times, C ...

See also:

Canis Major, Canis Major - Notable features, Canis Major - Notable deep sky objects, Canis Major - Mythology, Canis Major - Stars, Canis Major - Other uses of the name

Read more here: » Canis Major: Encyclopedia II - Canis Major - Mythology

Proper motion was discovered in 1718 by Edmund Halley, who noticed that Sirius, Arcturus and Aldebaran were over half a degree away from the positions charted by the ancient Greek astronomer Hipparchus roughly 1850 years earlier. In research published in 2005, the first measurement of the proper motion of a galaxy (the Triangulum Galaxy) was made. [1] ...

See also:

Proper motion, Proper motion - Introduction, Proper motion - History, Proper motion - Stars with high proper motion

Read more here: » Proper motion: Encyclopedia II - Proper motion - History

Canis Major's alpha star Sirius is the brightest star besides the Sun as seen from Earth. It is also one of the nearest. The star's name means scorching, since the summer heat occurred just after Sirius' heliacal rising. The Ancient Greeks referred to such times in the summer as dog days, as only dogs would be mad enough to go out in the heat, leading to the star being known as the Dog Star. Consequently, the conste ...

See also:

Canis Major, Canis Major - Notable features, Canis Major - Notable deep sky objects, Canis Major - Mythology, Canis Major - Stars, Canis Major - Other uses of the name

Read more here: » Canis Major: Encyclopedia II - Canis Major - Notable features