Canis Minor is a small 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 neighbouring constellation Canis Major. Both constellations were first catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century.
Canis Minor is home Procyon, one of the brightest stars in the night sky, Luyten’s Star, one of the nearest stars to Earth, and the spiral galaxy NGC 2485, among other notable objects.
FACTS, LOCATION & MAP
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 belongs to the Orion family of constellations, along with Canis Major, Lepus, Monoceros, and Orion.
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.
MYTH
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.
0 Comments