Canis Major (original) (raw)
Canis Major (abbreviation: CMa), the Great Dog, is the larger of Orion's two hunting dogs. A prominent southern constellation, it lies to the east and a bit south of Orion and is easily found by way of Sirius, its brightest star and the brightest star in the sky.
See below for details of the constellation's brightest stars and interesting deep sky objects.
NGC 2207 and IC 2163
NGC 2207 and IC 2163 are a pair of spiral galaxies In Canis Major in the process of colliding and merging with each other. They lie at a distance of about 80 million light-years from the Milky Way. Both galaxies were discovered by John Herschel in 1835.
| Stars in Canis Major brighter than magnitude 4.0 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| star | vis mag | abs mag | spec type | distance (ly) | RA (h m s) | Dec (° ' ") |
| Alpha (Sirius) | -1.44 | 1.46 | A0Vm | 8.6 | 06 45 09 | -16 42 58 |
| Epsilon (Adhara) | 1.50 | -4.11 | B2II | 430 | 06 58 38 | -28 58 20 |
| Delta (Wezen) | 1.83 | -6.87 | F8Ia | 1,790 | 07 08 23 | -26 23 36 |
| Beta (Mirzam) | 1.98v | -3.95 | B1II-III | 500 | 06 22 42 | -17 57 22 |
| Eta (Aludra) | 2.45 | -7.51 | B5Ia | 3,200 | 07 24 06 | -29 18 11 |
| Zeta (Phurad) | 3.02 | -2.05 | B2.5V | 336 | 06 20 19 | -30 03 48 |
| Omicron2 | 3.02 | -6.46 | B3Iab | 2,570 | 07 03 01 | -23 50 00 |
| Kappa | 3.50 | -3.42 | B1.5IVne | 790 | 06 49 50 | -32 30 31 |
| Omicron1 | 3.87 | -4.37 | K2Iab | 1,220 | 06 54 08 | -24 11 02 |
| Omega1 | 3.89 | -5.03 | K3Ia | 1,980 | 07 14 49 | -26 46 22 |
| Nu2 | 3.95 | 2.46 | K1III | 65 | 06 36 41 | -19 15 22 |
| Other objects of interest | ||
|---|---|---|
| name | type of object | notes |
| UW CMa | star | A Beta Lyrae star (eclipsing variable) in the same low-power field as NGC 2362. The components have masses of about 23 and 19 solar masses and a combined luminosity of at least 16,000 that of the Sun |
| M41 (NGC 2287) | open cluster | More than 50 stars of about eighth magnitude with a bright orange-red star near the center, partly resolved with binoculars. Magnitude 4.5; diameter 38'; RA 06h 47.0m, Dec -20° 44’ (about 4° SW of Sirius). |
| NGC 2362 | open cluster | A young cluster, about 5,000 light-years away, centered on the hot, luminous star Tau CMa. Magnitude 4; diameter 8'; RA 07h 17.8m, Dec -24° 57' |
| NGC 2359 | bright nebula | Thor's Helmet Nebula. See separate entry |
| Canis Major Dwarf | galaxy | The closest satellite galaxy to Earth. |