Canes Venatici

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Canes venatici
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Abbreviation	CVn
Genitive	Canum Venaticorum
Symbology	the Hunting Dogs
Right ascension	13 h
Declination	+40°
Area	465 sq. deg. Ranked 38th
Number of stars (Bayer-Flamsteed)	21
Number of bright stars (magnitude < 3)	1
Number of nearby stars (Distance < 100 ly)	1
Brightest star	Cor Caroli (α CVn) (App. magnitude 2.90)
Nearest Star	β CVn (Distance: 27.4 ly)
Meteor showers	Canes Venaticids
Bordering constellations	Ursa Major Boötes Coma Berenices
Visible at latitudes between +90° and −40° Best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of May

Canes Venatici (IPA: /ˈkeɪniːz vəˈnatəˌsʌɪ, -isʌɪ/, Latin: hunting dogs) is a small northern constellation that was introduced by Johannes Hevelius in the 17th century. It is supposed to represent the dogs Chara and Asterion held on a leash by Boötes.

1 Notable features
2 Notable deep sky objects
3 Possibility of planets
4 History
5 Notable and named stars
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Notable features

Canes Venatici is one of three constellations that represent dogs, along with Canis Major and Canis Minor. The constellation's brightest star is α CVn, whose proper name is Cor Caroli, named by Edmund Halley in memory of the English King Charles I or his son, Charles II. It is of magnitude 2.90.

Y CVn, sometimes known as "La Superba", is a semiregular variable star that varies between magnitudes 4.7 and 6.2 over a period of around 158 days. It is a very red star.

AM CVn, a very blue star of magnitude 14, is the prototype of a special class of cataclysmic variable stars, in which the companion star is a white dwarf, rather than a main sequence star.

Image:CVn bode.jpg

Image:Bootes & Coma Berenices.gif

[edit] Notable deep sky objects

Canes Venatici contains five Messier objects, including four galaxies. One of the more significant galaxies in Canes Venatici is the Whirlpool Galaxy, M51 (NGC 5194 and NGC 5195), a spiral galaxy that is seen face on. This was the first galaxy recognised as having a spiral structure, this structure being first observed by Lord Rosse in 1845.

Other galaxies in Canes Venatici include the Sunflower Galaxy (M63 or NGC 5055), Spiral Galaxy M94, and Spiral Galaxy M106,

Messier 3 (M3, or NGC 5272) is a globular cluster. It is 18′ in diameter, and at magnitude 6.3 is bright enough to be seen in binoculars.

[edit] Possibility of planets

The star Chara or Asterion (Beta Canum Venaticorum) in this constellation has been selected a strong candidate for planets. Margaret Turnbull, an astronomer at the Carnagie Institution of Washington, has recommended that SETI's radio telescopes scan it. (see Is Beta CVn lively).

[edit] History

The name of the constellation of Bootes means "herdsman". Some of its component stars were traditionally described as representing his cudgel, which in Greek was called Κολλοροβος. When the Almagest was translated from Greek to Arabic, the translator did not know the Greek word Κολλοροβος, but rendered it as the nearest-looking Arabic word: dhāt al-kullāb ذات الكلاب "having a hook", probably thinking of a shepherd's crook. When the Arabic text was translated into a Western European language, the translator mistook the Arabic word كلاب as kilāb = "dogs": Latin hastile habens canes = "spearshaft having dogs", which expression floated about the astronomical literature until Hevelius decided to find those dogs in the sky.

[edit] Notable and named stars

BD	F	Names and other designations	Right ascension	Declination	Mag.	Ly away	Comments
α^1,2	12	Cor Caroli, Alpha Canum Venaticorum, Chara	12^h56^m01.7^s	+38°19′06″	2.90	110	binary star, component magnitudes, 2.89, 5.61 = the heart of Charles α² Canum Venaticorum is the prototype of the α² CVn variable stars (magnetic spectrum stars)
β	8	Beta Canum Venaticorum, Chara	12^h33^m44.5^s	+41°21′27″	4.26	27.4	< χαρά Joy, dear nearby solar twin possibility of life
	24	24 Canum Venaticorum	13^h34^m27.3^s	+49°00′58″	4.70	191
	20	20 Canum Venaticorum, AO Canum Venaticorum,	13^h17^m32.5^s	+40°34′21″	4.73v	286	Delta Scuti variable
	5	5 Canum Venaticorum	12^h24^m01.5^s	+51°33′44″	4.80v	393
	25	25 Canum Venaticorum	13^h37^m27.6^s	+36°17′42″	4.82	192	binary star, period 240 years, component magnitudes +5.01, +6.91
		La Superba, Y Canum Venaticorum	12^h45^m07.8^s	+45°26′25″	4.99v	711	carbon star
	6	6 Canum Venaticorum	12^h25^m50.9^s	+39°01′07″	5.02	227
	21	21 Canum Venaticorum, BK Canum Venaticorum,	13^h18^m14.5^s	+49°40′55″	5.15v	275	Alpha2 Canum Venaticorum variable
	14	14 Canum Venaticorum	13^h05^m44.5^s	+35°47′56″	5.25
	3	3 Canum Venaticorum	12^h19^m48.7^s	+48°59′03″	5.29
	23	23 Canum Venaticorum	13^h20^m19.0^s	+40°09′02″	5.60
	2	2 Canum Venaticorum	12^h16^m07.6^s	+40°39′37″	5.66
	19	19 Canum Venaticorum	13^h15^m32.0^s	+40°51′19″	5.77	245
	17	17 Canum Venaticorum	13^h10^m03.2^s	+38°29′56″	5.91
	10	10 Canum Venaticorum	12^h44^m59.5^s	+39°16′44″	5.95
	4	4 Canum Venaticorum, AI Canum Venaticorum	12^h23^m47.0^s	+42°32′34″	6.06v	335	Delta Scuti variable
	7	7 Canum Venaticorum	12^h30^m02.9^s	+51°32′08″	6.21
	11	11 Canum Venaticorum	12^h48^m41.8^s	+48°28′01″	6.27
	15	15 Canum Venaticorum	13^h09^m42.0^s	+38°32′02″	6.28
	9	9 Canum Venaticorum	12^h38^m46.3^s	+40°52′28″	6.37