Canes Venatici
| Constellation | |
List of stars in Canes Venatici |
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| Abbreviation | CVn |
|---|---|
| Genitive | Canum Venaticorum |
| Pronunciation | /ˈkeɪniːz vɨˈnætɨsaɪ/ Cánes Venátici, genitive /ˈkeɪnəm vɨnætɨˈkɒrəm/ |
| Symbolism | the Hunting Dogs |
| Right ascension | 13 h |
| Declination | +40° |
| Quadrant | NQ3 |
| Area | 465 sq. deg. (38th) |
| Main stars | 2 |
| Bayer/Flamsteed stars |
21 |
| Stars with planets | 0 |
| Stars brighter than 3.00m | 1 |
| Stars within 10.00 pc (32.62 ly) | 2 |
| Brightest star | Cor Caroli (α CVn) (2.90m) |
| Nearest star | DG CVn (25.89 ly, 7.94 pc) |
| Messier objects | 5 |
| Meteor showers | Canes Venaticids |
| Bordering constellations |
Ursa Major Boötes Coma Berenices |
| Visible at latitudes between +90° and −40°. Best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of May. |
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Canes Venatici is one of the 88 official modern constellations. It is a small northern constellation that was created by Johannes Hevelius in the 17th century. Its name is Latin for hunting dogs holding by Boötes the Herdsman, a neighboring constellation.
Contents |
History
Canes Venatici contains no bright stars, the 3rd and the 4th magnitude star is each only one - α and β CVn.
In Classical times, Ptolemy included it in part of the constellation Ursa Major as informes, "unformed", in his star catalogue. α CVn was "Ptolemy's 28th of Ursa Major", and β CVn was "Ptolemy's 29th of Ursa Major".
In the medieval times, its identification with the dogs took Boötes arose through a mistranslation. Some of stars composed Boötes were traditionally described as representing clab (Greek, Κολλοροβος) of Boötes. When the Greek astronomer Ptolemy's Almagest was translated from Greek to Arabic, the translator Johannitius (followed Alberuni) did not know the Greek word and rendered it as the nearest-looking Arabic word, and wrote العصى ذات الكلاب in ordinary unvowelled Arabic text "al-`aşā dhāt al-kullāb", which means "the spearshaft having a hook", probably thinking of a shepherd's crook. When the Arabic text was translated into Latin, the translator Gerard of Cremona (probably in Spain) mistook the Arabic word كلاب for kilāb (the plural of كلب kalb), meaning "dogs", writing hastile habens canes ("spearshaft having dogs").[1][2]
In 1533, a German astronomer Peter Apian depicted Boötes took two dogs with him. On the other hand, sheep, a shepherd, and his dog in the bottom of constellation Cepheus, on his star map.[3][4]
These spurious dogs floated about the astronomical literature until Hevelius decided to specify their presence in the sky[5].
Hevelius named Asterion (from the Greek 'αστέριον, meaning the "little star",[6] the diminutive of 'αστηρ the "star", or adjective meaning "starry"[7]) for the northern dog and Chara (from the Greek χαρά, meaning "joy") for southern dog, as Canes venatici the hunting Dogs, on his star atlas.[8]
A Czech astronomer Becvar gave Asterion for β CVn and Chara for α CVn, in his star catalogue.[9]
These were sometimes regarded as independent constellations or at least an asterism.
Notable features
Stars
The constellation's brightest star is Cor Caroli (α² CVn), named by Sir Charles Scarborough in memory of King Charles I, the deposed king of Britain.[10] It is of magnitude 2.90.
La Superba (Y CVn) is a semiregular variable star that varies between magnitudes 4.7 and 6.2 over a period of around 158 days. It is a carbon star and is famous for being deep red. AM CVn, a very blue star of magnitude 14, is the prototype of a special class of cataclysmic variable stars, in which the companion star is a white dwarf, rather than a main sequence star. RS CVn is the prototype of a special class of binary stars[11] of chromospherically active and optically variable components.
Deep sky objects
Canes Venatici contains five Messier objects, including four galaxies. One of the more significant galaxies in Canes Venatici is the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51, NGC 5194) and NGC 5195, a small barred spiral galaxy that is seen face on. This was the first galaxy recognised as having a spiral structure, this structure being first observed by Lord Rosse in 1845.
Other notable spiral galaxies in Canes Venatici are the Sunflower Galaxy (M63, NGC 5055), Messier 94 (NGC 4736), and Messier 106 (NGC 4258).
Messier 3 (NGC 5272) is a globular cluster. It is 18' in diameter, and at magnitude 6.3 is bright enough to be seen with binoculars.
Citations
- ↑ Allen (1963). p. 105.
- ↑ Kunitzsch, P., (1959). Arabische Sternnamen in Europa. Wiesbaden: Otto Harassowitz. pp. 123-124.
Kunitzsch, P., (1974). Der Almagest: Die Syntaxis Mathematica des Claudius Ptolemäus in arabisch-lateinischer Ūberlieferung. Wiesbaden: Otto Harassowitz. pp. 227-228.
Kunitzsch, P., (1990). Der Sternkatalog des Almagest Die arabisch-mittelalterliche Tradition: II Die lateinische Ūbersetzung Gerhards von Cremona. Wiesbaden: Otto Harassowitz. pp. 48-49. - ↑ Apianus, P., (1533). Horoscopion generale. Ingolstadt.
- ↑ Allen (1963). p. 157.
- ↑ Star Tales: Canes Venatici
- ↑ Kunitzsch, P., and, Smart, T., (2006). A Dictionary of Modern Star Names: A Short Guide to 254 Star Names and Their Derivations (2nd Revised ed.). Cambridge, MA: Sky Publishing. p. 22. ISBN 1931559449.
- ↑ Allen (1963). p. 115.
- ↑ Hevelius, J., (1690). Firmamentum Soviescianum. Leipzig.
- ↑ Bečvář, A., (1951). Atlas Coeli II - Catalogue 1950.0. Prague: Czechoslovak Astronomical Society.
- ↑ According to R. H. Allen (Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning), the star was named by Halley for Charles II "at the suggestion of the court physician Sir Charles Scarborough, who said it had shone with special brilliance on the eve of the king's return to London, May 29, 1660". According to Deborah J. Warner (The Sky Explored: Celestial Cartography 1500-1800), it was originally named "Cor Caroli Regis Martyris" ("The Heart of King Charles the Martyr") for Charles I. According to Robert Burnham, Jr. (Burnham's Celestial Handbook, Volume 1), "the attribution of the name to Halley appears in a report published by J. E. Bode at Berlin in 1801, but seems to have no other verification".
- ↑ SIMBAD Query Result: RS CVn -- Variable of RS CVn type on the SIMBAD database
References
- Allen, R. H., (1963). Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning (Reprint ed.). New York, NY: Dover Publications Inc.. ISBN 0486210790.
- Ian Ridpath and Wil Tirion (2007). Stars and Planets Guide, Collins, London. ISBN 978-0007251209. Princeton University Press, Princeton. ISBN 978-0691135564.
External links
- Photographic Catalogue of Deep Sky Objects in Canes Venatici
- The Deep Photographic Guide to the Constellations: Canes Venatici
- Star Tales – Canes Venatici, by Ian Ridpath
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