Summary: Hevelius introduced Canes Venatici constellation in 1687 as female and male hunting dogs belonging to Boötes the Herdsman and leaping at Ursa Major.
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| Canes Venatici's female and male hunting dogs, Asterion and Chara (center), Boötes the Herdsman or Plowman (center right), Ursa Major the Great Bear (center left); Hevelius's depiction from perspective of outsider looking into celestial globe reverses actual east-west appearance of sky for Earth-based observer as insider looking outward at celestial globe; J. Hevelii, Firmamentum Sobiescianum (MDCXC [1690]), Fig. E: Public Domain, via ETH-Bibliothek e-rara |
Hevelius introduced Canes Venatici constellation in 1687 as Asterion and Chara, a pair of female and male hunting dogs belonging to Boötes the Herdsman and leaping beneath the tail of Ursa Major the Great Bear.
Johannes Hevelius (Polish: Jan Heweliusz; Jan. 28, 1611-Jan. 28, 1687) presented Canes Venatici (Hunting Dogs) as one of 10 constellations that he had visualized in Prodromus Astronomiae. The three-volume astronomical compendium contained the Prodromus; a star catalogue, Catalogus Stellarum Fixarum; and a star atlas, Firmamentum Sobiescianum sive Uranographia. The catalogue and star atlas had been printed in 1687, but Hevelius's death left them unpublished and the Prodromus unfinished. The astronomer-selenographer's wife, Polish astronomer Elisabeth Catherina Koopmann Hevelius (Polish: Elżbieta Koopman Heweliusz; Jan. 17, 1647–Dec. 22, 1693), completed the Prodromus and published all three volumes, under her husband's posthumous authorship, in 1690.
Hevelius introduced Canes Venatici as the first of his 10 newly invented constellations in Chapter VIII, De Numero Aſteriſmorum & Stellarum, tum nonnullis Rebus animadverſione dignis, of section Tabulae Solares Novae ("New Solar Tables") in the Prodromus. He created the pair of hunting dogs from 21 stars newly discovered by keen-sighted Hevelius and two stars deemed as unfigured by Greek astronomer Claudius Ptolemy (ca. 100-ca. 170 CE) in his second-century astronomical and mathematical treatise, originally entitled Mathematical Treatise (Ancient Greek: Μαθηματικὴ Σύνταξις, Mathēmatikē Syntaxis) and now known as Almagest (al-majisṭī, “almagest”: Arabic transliteration of Ancient Greek: μεγίστη, megístē, “greatest”).
Hevelius named the female and male hunting dogs Asterion and Chara, respectively. The constellation's first and second brightest stars, Cor Caroli (Charles's heart) (Alpha Canum Venaticorum, α Canum Venaticorum; abbreciated Alpha CVn, α CVn) and Chara (Beta Canum Venaticorum, β Canum Venaticorum; abbreviated Beta CVn, β CVn), distinguish Chara. Cor Caroli marks the ring attaching her collar to her leash, held by Boötes the Herdsman. Chara marks its namesake's eye.
Hevelius explained his name choices for the constellation's dogs. Asterion (Greek: ἀστήρ, aster, "star" + diminutive suffix -ιων, -ion) reflects the cluster of "diverse stars," fainter than Chara's two bright stars, contained within the northern dog's body. Her swiftness endears Chara (Greek: χαρά, khara, "joy") to Boötes.
"Cur Auctor Sidera nova, ita & non aliter denominaverit, atque eo, & non alio loco repoſuerit. Cur Canibus Venaticis locus ſub Caudâ Urſae Majoris fuerit asſignaius. Hâc occaſione datâ, breviter etiam indicabo, quare Sidera mea nova, à me primitùs in Coelum relata, ſic & non aliter denominaverim, eaque hoc Coeli loco, & non alio conſtituerim. Et primò quidem, Canes Venaticos, utpote Aſterionem & Charam, eâ ratione poſt Urſam Majorem, & ſub ejus caudam repoſui. Quippe Bootes pro Clamatore, Vociferatore & Venatore accipitur, qui Urſam in Venatione inſectatur; hinc etiam brachium, manumq; attolllit, atque ſic vociferando Canes funales ſuos alacriter dimittit: haud potui igitur Canibus his Venaticis commodiorem locus asſignare. Conſtant duabus Stellis informibus, ſub Caudâ Urſae Majoris exisſtentibus, Veteribus jam olim cognitis, atque ex 21 Stellis planè novis antehac nunquam adhuc à quopiam obſervatis. Nomen Aſterionis mihi perplacuit; cùm in corpore ſuo quaſi diverſas referat Stellulas, atque nomen illius, Poetis optimè fit cognitum. Aſterionis ſociam, Charam appellavi, quòd fortè Booti, more Venaticorum, Canis illa foemina, ob celeiorem ejus curſum, furerit admodùm grata & chara," Hevelius explained (Prodromus, page 114).
Hevelius discerned Canes Venatici in the space between Boötes the Herdsman constellation and Ursa Major the Great Bear constellation. The leashed pair leaps, from under the bear's tail, at the ursine hindquarters of the Herdsman's hunting target.
Boötes and Ursa Major join Coma Berenices as Canes Venatici's three neighbors. Ursa Major borders to the north and west of the hunting dogs. Her tail, which represents the handle in Ursa Major's Big Dipper asterism, hovers over Asterion, the northern hunting dog. Coma Berenices the Hair of Berenice constellation lies south of Chara, the southern hunting dog. With Asterion's and Chara's leashes in his upraised hand, eastern neighbor Boötes the Herdsman affirms his connection with Canes Venatici.
With an area of 465.2 square degrees, Canes Venatici the Hunting Dogs constellation occupies 1.128 percent of the sky, according to English astronomy writer Ian Ridpath (born May 1, 1947) in his table of constellations on his eponymous website (ianridpath.com). Canes Venatici's area places it as the 38th largest of the 88 constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).
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| Ursa Major (center) with Asterion and Chara (left center); Hevelius's depiction from perspective of outsider looking into celestial globe reverses actual east-west appearance of sky for Earth-based observer as insider looking outward at celestial globe; J. Hevelii, Firmamentum Sobiescianum (MDCXC [1690]), Fig. D: Public Domain, via ETH-Bibliothek e-rara |
With an area of 465.2 square degrees, Canes Venatici the Hunting Dogs constellation occupies 1.128 percent of the sky, according to English astronomy writer Ian Ridpath (born May 1, 1947) in his table of constellations on his eponymous website (ianridpath.com). Canes Venatici's area places it as the 38th largest of the 88 constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).
Right ascension (abbreviated RA; symbol α) coordinates for Canes Venatici extend from 12 hours 06 minutes 21.9399 seconds to 14h 07m 33.3441s, according to the constellation boundary tables on the International Astronomical Union's website. In the equatorial coordinate system, right ascension identifies with terrestrial longitude.
Declination (abbreviated dec; symbol δ) coordinates for Canes Vernatici extend from plus 27.8437748 to plus 52.3598061. The equatorial coordinate system's declination relates to geographic latitude.
Constellation Canes Venatici offers full visibility to Earth-based observers located between latitudes 90 degrees north and 37 degrees south. Partial visibility of the faint constellation is available to stargazers positioned between latitudes 37 degrees south and 62 degrees south in the southern hemisphere (Ridpath, Constellations -- 1).
Spring and summer qualify for best viewing of the Hunting Dogs constellation in the northern hemisphere, according to James Miller in "Star Constellation Facts: Canes Venatici," posted June 17, 2016, on his website, Astronomy Trek. Canes Venatici occurs as a never-setting constellation for viewers situated north of latitude 43 degrees north.
Locating Canes Venatici by way of its two brightest stars, located below the handle of Ursa Major's Great Dipper asterism, eases the canine constellation's findability. A straight line between Cor Corali and Chara in the southern dog defines the "constellation proper," explains Miller.
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| straight line below the handle of Ursa Major's Big Dipper asterism connects Canes Venatici constellation's two brightest stars, Cor Caroli (Alpha Canum Venaticorum), as the ring attaching Boötes the Herdsman's leash to the collar on Chara, the female, southern dog, and Chara (Beta Canum Venaticorum), the eye in the profile view of Chara's head; Monday, July 28, 2003, image of Canes Venatici: Till Credner, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons |
Acknowledgment
My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.
Dedication
Dedication
This post is dedicated to the memory of our beloved blue-eyed brother, Charles, who guided the creation of the Met Opera and Astronomy posts on Earth and Space News. We memorialized our brother in "Our Beloved Blue-Eyed Brother, Charles, With Whom We Are Well Pleased," published on Earth and Space News on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, an anniversary of our beloved father's death.
Image credits:
Image credits:
Canes Venatici's female and male hunting dogs, Asterion and Chara (center), Boötes the Herdsman or Plowman (center right), Ursa Major the Great Bear (center left); Hevelius's depiction from perspective of outsider looking into celestial globe reverses actual east-west appearance of sky for Earth-based observer as insider looking outward at celestial globe; J. Hevelii, Firmamentum Sobiescianum (MDCXC [1690]), Fig. E: Public Domain, via ETH-Bibliothek e-rara @ https://www.e-rara.ch/zut/content/zoom/133889
Ursa Major (center) with Asterion and Chara (left center); Hevelius's depiction from perspective of outsider looking into celestial globe reverses actual east-west appearance of sky for Earth-based observer as insider looking outward at celestial globe; J. Hevelii, Firmamentum Sobiescianum (MDCXC [1690]), Fig. D: Public Domain, via ETH-Bibliothek e-rara @ https://www.e-rara.ch/zut/content/zoom/133887 Fig. D
straight line below the handle of Ursa Major's Big Dipper asterism connects Canes Venatici constellation's two brightest stars, Cor Caroli (Alpha Canum Venaticorum), as the ring attaching Boötes the Herdsman's leash to the collar on Chara, the female, southern dog, and Chara (Beta Canum Venaticorum), the eye in the profile view of Chara's head; Monday, July 28, 2003, image of Canes Venatici: Till Credner, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CanesVenaticiCC.jpg
For further information:
For further information:
Allen, Richard Hinckley. "Canes Venatici, the Hunting Dogs. . . . The more northern one is Asterion, Starry, from the little stars marking the body; and the other, which contains the two brightest stars, is Chara, as Dear to the heart of her master." Pages 114-117. Star-Names and Their Meanings. New York NY; Leipzig, Germany; London, England; Paris, France: G.E. Stechert, 1899.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/starnamesandthe00allegoog/page/114/mode/1up
Available via Penelope-University of Chicago @ https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Topics/astronomy/_Texts/secondary/ALLSTA/Canes_Venatici*.html
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/starnamesandthe00allegoog/page/114/mode/1up
Available via Penelope-University of Chicago @ https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Topics/astronomy/_Texts/secondary/ALLSTA/Canes_Venatici*.html
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Available @ https://earthsky.org/constellations/use-the-big-dipper-to-locate-the-hunting-dogs/
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