Constellations are memorable maps to the stars, dating back many thousands of years.

Many of the constellations are associated with the Gods and Godesses of ancient Greek mythology.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has divided the sky into 88 official constellations with exact boundaries, so that every direction or location in the sky belongs to one constellation. Astronomers use this as a rough guideline for location objects, e.g. when they say that Mars is in the constellation of Gemini, it can be found within the borders of the constellation. The constellations that the Sun pass through each year are known as the Zodiac.

Canis Minor

The Little Dog

Canis Minor is one of the 88 modern constellations, and was also in Ptolemy's list of 48 constellations.

Canis Minor Mythology

Canis Minor was considered to be the smaller of the two hunting dogs of Orion. However, the ancient Greeks did not recognize it as a distinct constellation, and thus originally only considered Orion to have had one dog.

Further Information

Canis Minor is a small constellation mainly consisting of the two stars. Procyon is the eighth brightest star in the night sky. Procyon means 'anterior dog' in Greek, as it rises before the Dog Star, Sirius, of Canis Major.

Canis Minor Photographs

 

Taken on 2006-01-21, 1 views

 

Taken on 2006-01-21, 1 views