Canes Venatici Constellation: The Ultimate Guide
Canes Venatici (The hunting dogs)
Canes Venatici is a constellation located in the northern hemisphere of the Earth. The constellation's name comes from Latin and means 'hunting dogs'.
The location of the constellation Canes Venatici is near the north pole, so it is considered a circumpolar constellation and is primarily visible in spring and summer.
Canes Venatici is a small constellation with faint stars, so it is difficult to see in the sky with a lot of light pollution next to the constellations Ursa Major and Bootes.
The brightest star in Canes Venatici is Cor Caroli (Alpha Canum Venaticorum), with an apparent magnitude of 2.84.
Being one of the minor constellations, Canes Venatici has few deep-sky objects, primarily galaxies and a globular cluster.
In addition, within the constellation's boundaries, a meteor shower occurs.
The Mythology And History Of The Canes Venatici Constellation
Ancient Egypt
The Greco-Egyptian astronomer Claudius Ptolemy describes the region that currently belongs to the constellation Canes Venatici in the Almagest, the complete catalog of stars of antiquity.
However, Ptolemy lists the stars in the region and catalogs them as part of the constellation Ursa Major.
Canes Venatici is a relatively new constellation; it is not part of Ptolemy's 48 constellations initially cataloged. Because of this, it has no associated stories or myths.
Early Modern Period
By a translation error, Gerard of mona named the constellation 'dogs with spear pole' during the eleventh century.
These dogs gained popularity among the astronomer community until, in 1687, the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius decided to turn them into a separate constellation.
Nowadays
After its assignment as a constellation, Canes Venatici did not undergo significant changes in its regions in the following years.
It is currently an important area of study of the evolution of galaxies for astronomers.
How To Find The Canes Venatici Constellation?
Visibility By Region
The constellation of Canes Venatici resides in the third quadrant of the Northern Hemisphere (NQ3), at latitudes between 40° S and 90° N.
We can see the constellation in the night sky in all countries worldwide. Canes Venatici is not visible from Antarctica.
Canis Venatici is visible in the USA, Europe, Russia, China, and Japan in the northern hemisphere.
In the southern hemisphere, Canis Venatici is visible in countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, the only regions where it is not visible in Antarctica, and the areas south of Argentina, Chile, and Australia.
Visibility By Season
Canes Venatici is a constellation close to the north pole, so it is visible throughout the year to the northern hemisphere countries. However, the best way to observe it is in May.
For the southern hemisphere countries, a part of the constellation ceases to be visible in spring.
Finding Canes Venatici Constellation
To locate the constellation Canes Venatici, you must look to the north of the celestial vault.
Canes Venatici is a medium-sized but very faint constellation; it is complicated to see in skies with light pollution; use the constellations Leo and Bootes to orient yourself.
The best way to locate it is by drawing an imaginary line from the Ursa Major constellation to the Virgo. Canes Venatici is located right in the middle of the two.
Related Constellations
Canes Venatici's related constellations are Ursa Major, Boötes, Coma Berenices, Leo Minor, and Leo Major.
In addition, Canes Venatici also belongs to the Ursa Major family of constellations; these include Boötes, Camelopardalis, Coma Berenices, Corona Borealis, Draco, Leo Minor, Lynx, Ursa Major, and Ursa Minor.
Stars in Canes Venatici Constellation
Officially Canes Venatici has 59 stars recognized by the International National Union. Only 3 are part of the central figure of the constellation; these are Cor Caroli, Chara, and La Superba.
Canes Venatici is a small constellation, so for stars have the classification, the brightest are:
Cor Caroli (α Canum Venaticorum)
It is a binary star located 110 light-years from the solar system, has a magnitude of +0.25, is the brightest star in Canes Venatici's constellation.
It is a binary star system consisting of a white star and a main-sequence star of type F0V.
Asterion or Chara (β Canum Venaticorum / β CVn)
Located at a distance of 27 light-years and with a magnitude of 4.26, Asterion is the second brightest star in the constellation Canes Venatici. Its physical characteristics are very similar to the Sun.
24 Canum Venaticorum
White Star of the primary sequence of magnitude 4.70. It is the third brightest star in Canes Venatici's constellation.
Other Canes Venatici Stars:
- 5 Canum Venaticorum, a yellow giant with a magnitude 4.77.
- 6 Canum Venaticorum, a yellow giant of magnitude 5.01.
- 10 Canum Venaticorum, a yellow dwarf of magnitude 6.00.
- R Canum Venaticorum, red giant.
- Canum Venaticorum (La Superba), semi-irregular variable.
- RS Canum Venaticorum, eclipsing binary.
- AM Canum Venaticorum, Is a very blue star of magnitude 14.
- AO Canum Venaticorum (20 CVn) is the fourth brightest star in the constellation Canes Venatici with a magnitude of 4.73.
- BH Canum Venaticorum, Is the eruptive variable of the type RS Canum Venaticorum.
- BI Canum Venaticorum, contact binary.
- BK Canum Venaticorum (21 CVn), variable of Alpha 2 Canum Venaticorum.
- DD Canum Venaticorum, variable of magnitude 7.14.
- DT Canum Venaticorum, Lambda Bootis star of magnitude 5.89.
- Gliese 507.1 (GJ 9440), a red dwarf of magnitude 10.66.
- Gliese 521, also a red dwarf of magnitude 10.26.
- AW Canum Venaticorum, Is an orange giant and semi-irregular variable.
Deep Sky Objects
Canes Venatici is a small constellation; because of that, it has very few deep sky bodies; most of them are still in the study phase and are very dim, and only the most powerful telescopes can study them.
The only deep-sky bodies in Canes Venatici that the International Astronomical Union officially recognizes are:
- Whirlpool Galaxy (M51, NGC 5194): Is a barred spiral galaxy.
- NGC 5195: This is a small barred spiral galaxy facing Earth.
- Sunflower Galaxy (M63, NGC 5055), M94 (NGC 4736), and M106 (NGC 4258).
- M63 (Sunflower Galaxy): It is a spiral galaxy with an integrated magnitude of 9.0 in the shape of a sunflower.
- M94 (NGC 4736): Small frontal spiral galaxy with a magnitude of 8.0, 15 million light-years from the solar system.
- NGC 4631, Barred Spiral Galaxy: One of the largest and brightest edge galaxies in the sky visible with an amateur telescope.
- M3 (NGC 5272): It is a globular cluster 32,000 light-years from Earth.
- M94 (NGC 4736): A frontal spiral galaxy 15 million light-years from Earth.
- TON 618: It is a hyper luminous quasar with a supermassive black hole with a mass 66 billion times greater than that of our Sun. It is one of the greatest known.
Meteor Showers
Canes Venatici's constellation has associated a meteor shower called "Canes Venaticids." The Canes Venaticids meteor shower occurs in January.
Conclusions
Canes Venatici is a constellation of the northern celestial hemisphere; its name comes from Latin and means 'hunting dogs'.
Although it is in the Northern Hemisphere, Canes Venatici see from worldwide, the only exception is Antarctica.
The best month to see the constellation Canes Venatici is in May.
The brightest star of Canes Venatici is α Canum Venaticorum (Cor Caroli) with a magnitude of 2,84.
The best way to locate Canes Venatici's constellation is to draw an imaginary line from the constellation Ursa Major to the constellation Virgo. Canes Venatici is located right in the middle of the two.
The most notable deep sky body of Canes Venatici is M63, better known as the sunflower galaxy.
The strongest meteor shower in Canes Venatici is the Canes Venaticids.
Sources Of Information:
- https://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/canes-venatici-constellation/
- http://www.seasky.org/constellations/constellation-canes-venatici.html
- https://www.universetoday.com/32834/canes-venatici/
- https://www.universeguide.com/constellation/canesvenatici
- https://theskylive.com/sky/constellations/canes_venatici-constellation