Canes Venatici, the Hunting Dogs, is a small northern constellation of just two named stars, held on a leash by Boötes beneath the handle of the Plough.
At a glance
| stars in the figure | 2 |
|---|---|
| nearest star of the figure | Chara, 27.5 light-years (8.44 pc) |
| farthest star of the figure | Cor Caroli, 115 light-years (35.2 pc) |
| depth | the farthest is 4.2 × farther than the nearest |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Canes Venatici
Canes Venatici was introduced by the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius, who carved it out of the stars beneath the Great Bear. The two dogs, Asterion and Chara, are imagined held by the herdsman Boötes as he drives the bear around the pole. The figure is drawn with only two stars, Cor Caroli and Chara, joined by a single line.
Cor Caroli, whose name means Charles’s heart, is a chemically peculiar white star with a strong magnetic field and gives its name to a whole class of such variable stars. Chara is a near neighbour much like the Sun. Around them lie some of the finest galaxies for small telescopes, among them the Whirlpool Galaxy, M51, and the bright globular cluster M3 on its border with Boötes.
What you see in the piece
The figure is a single line, and it still has depth: Chara lies close to the Sun while Cor Caroli is several times farther, so flown out to, the two dogs are not side by side at all but one far behind the other.
Questions
How far away are the stars of Canes Venatici?
Chara, the nearest star of the figure, is 27.5 light-years (8.44 pc) away; Cor Caroli is 115 light-years (35.2 pc) away.
Where is Canes Venatici?
Just below the handle of the Plough in Ursa Major. It is high in the evening sky in northern spring and is circumpolar from northern Europe.