It is also a constellation present in the space system in the southern sky. This constellation was included in 88 Constellations in the second century like the all other constellations they also have a Latin name that means “greater dog” and “lesser dog” both are equally separated. This constellation presents the bigger dog and the hunter in the Greek mythology, the dog, often depicts the constellation Lepus. The smaller dog represents the neighboring constellations that are present in the space system; there are several myths related to this constellation are given below as:
Characteristics of this Constellation:
This constellation is located in the southern region of the sky bordered by the Monoceros to the north and Lepus to the west. The actual boundaries of this constellation were sketched in 1930, and the borders of this constellation lie between 12.5m to 27.5m and it covers almost 380 squares degrees or the Canis Major occupies 0.921% of the whole sky. Its rank is 43rd in the modern 88 constellations.
The family of the constellation:
Like the other constellations, this constellation also has a family of stars who belongs to Orion family of constellations also along with the Canis Minor, Lepus, and Orion. There are plenty of stars involved in the family of this constellation who is briefly described as follows:
Sirius or Alpha star:
This star is also known as the Dog Star is the brightest star in the whole sky and the fifth nearest star to be close to the sun. This star is a binary star that has a great magnitude -1.42, and it’s distant is only 8.6 light years, it is a white main sequence star. The brighter component Sirius A is the white main sequence star, and the other Sirius B is a dwarf orbit that is of the distant 50 years.
Adhara or Epsilon star:
This is the another brightest star who is a family member of Canis Major constellation, and it is the second biggest star in this constellation, its name simply means virgin. It is also a binary star that lies about 430 light years from the earth.
Wezen or Delta star:
This is the star having a yellow color and F-type structure and huge, it has magnitude 1.83, so the brightness of this star will be much higher while comparing this to the other constellations. It can be found almost around the Sirius star; its name signifies the “weight.”
Murzim or Beta star:
It is a blue, white huge star whose magnitude lies between 1.95 and 2.0 0 and also having the distant closer to almost 500 light years from the earth. The meaning of this star name is “the Herald.”
MYTH:
The Canis Major constellation is commonly taken to represents as mentioned earlier for the “greater dog” following the hunter Orion in the Greek myth. The myth is represented as the dog is his hind legs, pursuing a hare followed by the constellation Lepus. Another myth was “ the dog with a blazing face.”