Canis Major, the Great Dog, is the constellation of Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, following Orion across the winter sky in the northern hemisphere.
At a glance
| stars in the figure | 10 |
|---|---|
| not placed by measurement | Omicron¹ Canis Majoris (no usable parallax; left out of the depth below) |
| nearest star of the figure | Sirius A, 8.6 light-years (2.64 pc) |
| farthest star of the figure | Iota Canis Majoris, 2,510 light-years (769 pc) |
| depth | the farthest is 290 × farther than the nearest |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Canis Major
Canis Major is the larger of Orion’s hunting dogs in Greek star lore. Sirius, the Dog Star, marks its head or collar, and outshines every other star because it is both luminous and close. It has a white dwarf companion, Sirius B, the dense remnant of a star. Mirzam stands at a foreleg, and Adhara, Wezen and Aludra form the hindquarters and tail.
Wezen and Aludra are distant supergiants, far more powerful than Sirius but much farther away. VY Canis Majoris, among the largest stars known, lies in the figure, too faint to see without a telescope. Canis Major is seen on northern winter evenings, low in the south from Europe, and high on summer evenings in the southern hemisphere.
What you see in the piece
Flown out to, Sirius is right next door and the dog explodes outward from it: the rest of the figure lies far behind, so far that Sirius alone keeps its brilliance once you leave Earth.
Measured or modelled
Omicron¹ Canis Majoris has no usable parallax, so its distance is not measured: the piece pins it at a stand-in distance only so its line can still draw, and the card leaves it out of the nearest, farthest and depth.
Questions
Why is Sirius so bright?
Sirius is a hot white star with much more power than the Sun, and it is also one of the closest stars to us, 8.6 light-years (2.64 pc) away.
How far away are the stars of Canis Major?
Of the stars with a measured distance, they range from Sirius A, 8.6 light-years (2.64 pc), to Iota Canis Majoris, 2,510 light-years (769 pc): the farthest is 290 × farther than the nearest. Omicron¹ Canis Majoris has no usable parallax, so its distance is not measured.