Explore the Universe - Canis Major

Canis Major cruises across our southern sky throughout the winter.  The brightest star in the constellation is actually the brightest star (besides our own) that can be seen from Earth.  Alpha Canis Majoris is also known as Sirius, commonly called The Dog Star.  Several constellations that are visible from Rio de Janeiro are located on Brazil's flag and Canis Major is one of them.  The five brightest stars are present on the flag.  These stars also represent five states within the country.  The link below will take you to the full explanation of the stars located on the Brazilian flag.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Brazil#Stars

Canis Major is also known to contain one of the largest stars ever recorded.  VY Canis Majoris has a radius 1420 times that of our Sun.  If this star were the center of our solar system it would stretch out beyond the orbit of Jupiter.  A size comparison of stars is shown in an image below.

Planet and Star Size Comparison

The civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia believed Sirius was an arrow and the rest of the constellation was a bow.  The arrow was aimed right for the great Hunter -- Orion.  A particularly interesting Greek Myth has Laelaps, a mythological dog that always caught its prey, square off against a Teumessian Fox, a gigantic fox that can never be caught.  A paradox was created by their mutually excluding mythological abilities.  Zeus was perplexed by the paradox and decided to turn them to stone and cast them into the sky as Canis Major (Laelaps) and Canis Minor (Teumessian Fox).  The famous Greek poets simply refer to Canis Major as the hunting dog of Orion that assists in hunting Lepus the hare and Taurus the bull.

Canis Major and Lepus (Artist Interpretation)

This evening I mapped the constellation with binoculars.  Unfortunately, due to the southerly declination of the constellation, the atmosphere hazed out some of the dimmer stars.  A house was also in my way on the southern parts of the constellation.  With some maneuvering I was able to nab Kappa and Lambda Canis Majoris.  The mapping is provided below.

Canis Major Observing Record

As notes in the image above, Canis Major contains one Messier object.  M41 is an open cluster located approximately 4°S of Sirius.  Even with the light pollution, atmosphere and an ill placed house I was able to see the cluster through my binoculars.


Clear Skies and hopefully Warm Weather!