Constellation: Canes Venatici

Mythology:
Canum Venaticorum, or Canes Venatici (kay-NEHS vehn-ah-TEE-see), is a northern sky constellation that rests in the stars near the Hunting Dogs' master, Bootes to the east; the dragon, Draco to the northwest; Coma Berenices, or Berenice's hair, to the south; and the bears Ursa Major and Minor to the north. Leo the Lion is also near the Hunting Dogs. The Big Dipper's handle, part of the Ursa Major constellation, points south to these loyal dogs, Asterion and Chara. They are said to be restrained by a leash held by master Bootes as they hunt the bears Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.

Canes Venatici was conceived by the Polish astronomer, Johannes Hevelius in 1687.

The meteor shower in the constellation, Canes Venaticids, is active in the January night sky, from the thirteenth to the thirtieth, gaining a maximum magnitude around the twenty-fourth or -fifth. This shower was discovered by Czech astronomer Zdenek Sekanina, a NASA award winner.

Major Stars:
The heart of Charles (the dog, Chara), a wide double star separated by twenty seconds of arc, is believed to have been named by Edmund Halley, discoverer of Halley's comet, after his patron, Charles II. Alpha Canum Venaticorum, or Cor Caroli, the heart of Charles, is a beautiful double star and easily separated with the smallest of telescopes.

Psi (Y) Canum Venaticorum was named "La Superba" by French astrophysicist Pietro Angelo Secchi in the nineteenth century. Psi is a "superbly" red fifth magnitude star. It varies from magnitude 5.2 to 6.6 over 157 days.

Messier Objects:
Within this faint but distinct constellation are many Messier catalog objects.

M3 is considered a gem of the northern night sky. This gorgeous globular cluster of stars is halfway between Cor Caroli and the star Arcturus. It is approximately 35,000 light years from our own Milky Way galaxy and 2,000 light years in diameter and can be seen as a faint spot of "dust" with the naked eye in the night sky. With a small telescope, however, this jewel begins to resolve into many, many beautiful stars.

M51, or more commonly known as the Whirlpool Galaxy, is some thirty seven million light years away. This beautiful and famous galaxy has an eighth magnitude glow and is viewed with a bright nucleus. A twelve-inch telescope should show this galaxy's spiral structure.

Other Messier objects in Canes Venatici include the grainy Sunflower galaxy, M63, which is also thirty seven million light years away. This galaxy was discovered in 1779 by Pierre Mechain. M94, the Sab galaxy, has a similar shape to a comet, and can be mistaken for one in a smaller telescope. At fourteen and a half million light years away, the Sab galaxy still shows an extremely bright core. M106, twenty five million light years away, is the last Messier object worthy of mentioning. It is uncertain as to whether this galaxy is a barred spiral galaxy or simply a spiral galaxy, different photographs deviate between the two classifications.

Canes Venatici hits the meridian on May 1 at around ten o'clock pm. A telescope to spy upon the Hunting Dogs of Bootes would provide a glorious viewing of the Messier objects and the alpha star. Happy star hunting!

(With help from Dave Swartz, seds.org, David H. Levy, and NASA)