Canis Minor constellation
Latin Canis Minor, genitive Canis Minoris, abbreviation CMi
North up, east to the left, as you see the sky. The lines are a common figure; the stars are from the catalogue.
The myth
Orion's second, smaller dog. Its bright star Procyon, 'before the dog', rises shortly before Sirius and announced it. With Betelgeuse and Sirius, Procyon forms the Winter Triangle, high in the south on winter evenings in the north.
When can Canis Minor be seen?
It stands highest around 10 pm in February. It can be seen from everywhere north of 73°S, and it never sets north of 85°N.
The brightest stars
| Star | Designation | Magnitude | Colour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Procyon | α CMi | 0.38 | yellowish white |
| Gomeisa | β CMi | 2.90 | bluish |
| – | γ CMi | 4.32 | reddish |
| – | 6 CMi | 4.54 | orange |
| – | ε CMi | 4.99 | orange |
The smaller the number, the brighter: below 1 are the brightest stars of the sky, 4 is hard to see under a city sky. Greek letters after Johann Bayer (1603).