Constellations
Canis Major (CMa)
The Great Dog
Also known as great dog, big dog.
6 looks for Canis Major
The constellation in a clear night sky over the hills: its lines draw themselves one on every beat, its real stars twinkle with the part of the song their colour answers, the Milky Way glows and a shooting star crosses on the big moments.
About Canis Major
- What it is
- One of the IAU's constellations: The Great Dog
- IAU abbreviation
- CMa
- Its stars are named
- Canis Majoris (as in "Alpha Canis Majoris")
- Family
- Orion family
- Where
- The southern sky: seen best from south of the equator
- Highest in the sky
- At about 9 pm in February
- Centre
- Right ascension 6h 54m, declination −22° 25′
- The figure
- 11 stars joined by 11 lines
- Brightest star
- Sirius, magnitude -1.46
Star patterns in it: Winter Triangle, Winter Hexagon.
Its stars
Brightest first. A smaller magnitude is a brighter star; the visualizer sizes and colours each one by these.
- Sirius (α CMa)mag -1.46
- Adhara (ε CMa)mag 1.50
- Wezen (δ CMa)mag 1.84
- Mirzam (β CMa)mag 1.98
- Aludra (η CMa)mag 2.45
- Al Zara (ο2 CMa)mag 3.02
- Furud (ζ CMa)mag 3.02
- Unurgunite (σ CMa)mag 3.47
- θ CMamag 4.07
- Muliphein (γ CMa)mag 4.12
- ι CMamag 4.37
Every star's place, brightness and colour is the Yale Bright Star Catalogue's; the figure is the IAU's, through d3-celestial (credited on the licences page). Constellations template · Every constellation