Canes Venatici
| Constellation | |
|
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| Abbreviation | CVn |
|---|---|
| Genitive | Canum Venaticorum |
| Pronunciation | /ˈkeɪniːz vᵻˈnætᵻsaɪ/ Cánes Venátici, genitive /ˈkeɪnəm vᵻnætᵻˈkɒrəm/ |
| Symbolism | the Hunting Dogs |
| Right ascension | 12h 06.2m to 14h 07.3m |
| Declination | +27.84° to +52.36° |
| Family | Ursa Major |
| Quadrant | NQ3 |
| Area | 465 sq. deg. (38th) |
| Main stars | 2 |
|
Bayer/Flamsteed stars |
21 |
| Stars with planets | 4 |
| Stars brighter than 3.00m | 1 |
| Stars within 10.00 pc (32.62 ly) | 2 |
| Brightest star | Cor Caroli (Asterion) (α CVn) (2.90m) |
| Nearest star |
DG Canum Venaticorum (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 /ˈkeɪniːz vᵻˈnætᵻsaɪ/ 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", and the constellation is often depicted in illustrations as representing the dogs of Boötes the Herdsman, a neighboring constellation.
The stars of Canes Venatici are not bright. In classical times, they were listed by Ptolemy as unfigured stars below the constellation Ursa Major in his star catalogue.
In medieval times, the identification of these stars with the dogs of Boötes arose through a mistranslation. Some of Boötes's stars were traditionally described as representing the club (Greek, Κολλοροβος) of Boötes. When the Greek astronomer Ptolemy's Almagest was translated from Greek to Arabic, the translator Hunayn ibn Ishaq did not know the Greek word and rendered it as the nearest-looking Arabic word, writing العصا ذات الكلاب in ordinary unvowelled Arabic text "al-`aşā dhāt al-kullāb", which means "the spearshaft having a hook". When the Arabic text was later translated into Latin, the translator Gerard of Cremona mistook the Arabic word كلاب for kilāb (the plural of كلب kalb), meaning "dogs", writing hastile habens canes ("spearshaft having dogs"). In 1533, the German astronomer Peter Apian depicted Boötes as having two dogs with him.
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