Canis Major - Revision history

IanRidpath: Ptolemy's Greek name

2026-03-01T15:00:28Z

Ptolemy's Greek name

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:00, 1 March 2026
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	----		----
	[[File:Canis Major (cma).tif\|alt=star chart\|thumb\|CMa star chart (IAU and Sky & Telescope magazine, Roger Sinnott & Rick Fienberg)]]		[[File:Canis Major (cma).tif\|alt=star chart\|thumb\|CMa star chart (IAU and Sky & Telescope magazine, Roger Sinnott & Rick Fienberg)]]
	One of the [[:Category:88_IAU-Constellations\|88 IAU constellations]]. This is the (one and only) constellation of the Dog in ancient Greek astronomy.		One of the [[:Category:88_IAU-Constellations\|88 IAU constellations]]. This is the (one and only) constellation of the Dog in ancient Greek astronomy. Ptolemy ‍in ‍the ‍''‍Almagest'' ‍called ‍it ‍simply ‍‍Κύων ‍(Kyon), ‍the ‍Dog. ‍
	[[File:Ori-grp Kugel hi smh.gif\|thumb\|Orion-Group of constellations on the Kugel Globe, drawing and animated GIF by SMH 2025.]]		[[File:Ori-grp Kugel hi smh.gif\|thumb\|Orion-Group of constellations on the Kugel Globe, drawing and animated GIF by SMH 2025.]]

Sushoff: /* Setting (Lib II Cap VI §10) */

2026-02-27T14:01:09Z

Setting (Lib II Cap VI §10)

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:01, 27 February 2026
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	\|-		\|-
	\|		\|
	\|		\|Tau 11
	\|		\|Tau 29
	\|		\|Leo 17
	\|		\|Vir 11
	\|-		\|-
	\|		\|
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	\|-		\|-
	\|star		\|star
	\|		\|the bright one in the hind foot
	\|		\|the southernmost of the bright ones in the head
	\|		\|
	\|		\|
	\|-		\|-
	\|duration		\|duration
	\| colspan="4" \|2 ~~2/3~~ hours = ~~160~~ min = ~~40°~~		\| colspan="4" \|1 1/2 hours = 90 min = 22 1/2°
	\|}		\|}

Sushoff: /* Rising (Lib II Cap V §10) */

2026-02-27T13:36:16Z

Rising (Lib II Cap V §10)

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	\|-		\|-
	\|		\|
	\|		\|Cnc 15
	\|		\|Leo 4 1/2
	\|		\|Psc 28
	\|		\|Ari 23 1/2
	\|-		\|-
	\|		\|
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	\|-		\|-
	\|star		\|star
	\|		\|the one at the end of the front and north of the feet (bet)
	\|		\|the one at the tip of the tail (eta)
	\|		\|
	\|		\|
	\|-		\|-
	\|duration		\|duration
	\| colspan="4" \|2 1/8 hours = ~~127.5~~ min = ~~31 7/8~~ degree		\| colspan="4" \|1 2/3 hours = 100 min = 25 degree
	\|}		\|}

Sushoff at 11:50, 27 February 2026

2026-02-27T11:50:15Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:50, 27 February 2026
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	==Etymology and History==		==Etymology and History==
	===Origin of Constellation ===		===Origin of Constellation<ref>Hoffmann, Susanne M. Wie der Löwe an den Himmel kam. Franckh Kosmos Verlag, Stuttgart 2021</ref> ===
	In Hellenistic times, Greek astronomy had only one constellation, the Dog, so there was no need to distinguish between a large and a small dog. According to Eratosthenes, this dog had the bright star Sirius on its tongue. Ptolemy in Roman times placed it on the dog's snout.		In Hellenistic times, Greek astronomy had only one constellation, the Dog, so there was no need to distinguish between a large and a small dog. According to Eratosthenes, this dog had the bright star Sirius on its tongue. Ptolemy in Roman times placed it on the dog's snout.

Sushoff: /* Mythology */

2026-02-26T20:26:31Z

Mythology

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:26, 26 February 2026
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	==Etymology and History==		==Etymology and History==
	In Hellenistic times, Greek astronomy had only one constellation, the Dog, so there was no need to distinguish between a large and a small dog. According to Eratosthenes, this dog had the bright star Sirius on its tongue. Ptolemy in Roman times placed it on the dog's snout.		===Origin of Constellation ===
			In Hellenistic times, Greek astronomy had only one constellation, the Dog, so there was no need to distinguish between a large and a small dog. According to Eratosthenes, this dog had the bright star Sirius on its tongue. Ptolemy in Roman times placed it on the dog's snout.

	What is interesting about Sirius, however, is that today we use the Greek proper name from Hellenistic times. Ptolemy in Roman times called the brightest star of the constellation ‘the Dog’.		What is interesting about [[Sirius]], however, is that today we use the Greek proper name from Hellenistic times. Ptolemy in Roman times called the brightest star of the constellation ‘the Dog’.

	===~~Origin of Constellation~~===		==== Bright Star ====
			Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky and therefore particularly easy to observe at dusk. This makes it ideal for a special calendar function. In the course of the year, it does not matter where the beginning and end are – the only important thing is that the stellar year, like the solar year, has approximately 365 days. There were therefore several possibilities in different cultures as to when to celebrate the New Year: in Mesopotamia, it was usually the spring equinox, but there was also the variant with the autumn equinox. In Egypt, the New Year was celebrated in summer – with five days ‘between the years’ when it was hardly possible to work anyway due to the intense heat. This ancient Egyptian custom was still known when the country on the Nile was under Greek and Roman rule. This explains the ancient term ‘dog days’ for the hottest days of the year with the heliacal rising of Sirius.

			The Greek word for the star – seirios, scorching – can refer both to its brightness and to the heat of summer at the time of its heliacal rising. The latter was certainly the case with the Egyptian word: since the 3rd millennium, the word ‘Sothis’ has been used to refer to a constellation of at least three stars, which later – perhaps only in the 1st millennium – was restricted to the bright Sirius. As in Mesopotamia, the Sothis star system was used in Egypt to determine the calendar. However, whether the rising of Sirius was really associated with the flooding of the Nile is highly controversial among researchers and difficult to prove. What is certain is that the star system was associated with the goddess of magic, Isis. She was always one of the supreme deities in the Egyptian pantheon, and in Roman times, the growing Christianity had to assert itself against the cult of Isis, among others, as an extremely strong competitor.

			In the case of Sirius, however, it is interesting that we now use the Greek proper name from the Hellenistic period. Ptolemy in Roman times called the brightest star in the constellation ‘the dog’. Many astronomers were puzzled by the question of why Ptolemy described the star as reddish. This even sparked speculation about a possible supernova or nova on its companion, a white dwarf. Both can be dismissed because it may be a matter of uncertainty in text translations: Eratosthenes already described the star as ‘fiery’ and “flaming” or ‘flickering’. The flickering and shimmering in all colours is caused by the Earth's atmosphere. In most cultures, reddish stars are referred to as fire stars: e.g. [[Antares\|Antare]]<nowiki/>s in China or [[Aldebaran]] in Mesopotamia. In the case of Sirius, the word probably means ‘glittering’ in the sense of ‘bright compared to other stars’. It would therefore be a metaphor for great brightness, like a beacon in the dark, heralding the new year and the hot season. The attribution of ‘red’ would therefore be a misunderstanding in one of the numerous stages of translation. Sirius is and was white in colour even back then. This is confirmed by other ancient astronomers and astrologers in their descriptions, e.g. Manilius in the first century.

	==== Babylonian ====		==== Babylonian ====
			Babylonian astronomy records the constellation Arrow ([[KAK.SI.SA2\|KAK.SI.SA<sub>2</sub>]]) in this region of the sky. There are probably two constellations in this region of the sky: the Arrow and the Bow. In some versions of Babylonian uranography, they are held by a person, presumably a deity, standing east of the Milky Way. However, this does not seem to apply to all variants; in MUL.APIN, for example, no such figure is mentioned, but rather two independent constellations (Bow and Arrow), while textual descriptions from the 1st millennium suggest such a figure.

			[[Sirius]] definitely belongs to the Arrow and, as the brightest star, sometimes stands alone for this constellation, especially when observed at twilight (i.e. for calendar determination). Therefore, there are various suggestions in research as to which stars other than Sirius also belong to the arrow. A line from Sirius to [[Procyon]] is rather unlikely from a calendar perspective. Presumably, the constellation of Sirius should be thought of as southward. Since the constellation of the bow should be located near the arrow, it is presumed to be in the southernmost stars of the dog or in the faint stars east of it. Whether it is a bow and arrow, just an arrow or a deity with an arrow (and bow), there is certainly no dog to be found here in Babylonian mythology: the Babylonian constellation Dog belongs to the goddess of medicine, [[Gula]], and is located in the area of our constellation [[Hercules]].

	==== Greco-Roman ====		==== Greco-Roman ====
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	==Mythology==		==Mythology==
			Eratosthenes recounts two stories about how the dog might have come to be in the sky: on the one hand, he could be Orion's faithful companion, and on the other, he could have been a gift to Princess Europa.

			As Orion's dog, he accompanied him on the hunt and is considered a faithful companion and helper to humans against wild animals. That is why he was immortalised in the starry sky with Orion's ascent, writes Eratosthenes.

			However, the dog could also have had a whole series of other owners: together with the javelin, it is said to have been given by Zeus to the king's daughter Europa as her guardian. She later passed these gifts on to her son Minos. As king of Crete, he later suffered from an illness from which the Attic princess Prokris cured him. Out of gratitude, he gave her the immortal dog and the accurate javelin. When Prokris married King Cephalus of Thebes, the gifts came into his possession. Thebes was plagued by an uncatchable fox, and when they hunted it with the swift dog, only Zeus could end the pursuit: He turned the fox to stone and placed the dog among the stars.

			Hyginus and Ovid see the two dogs as the faithful companions of Ikarios, the bringer of culture, who, at the behest of the god Dionysus, introduced the art of viticulture and wine production to the land around Athens.

	==Weblinks==		==Weblinks==

Sushoff: /* Hipparchus */

2026-02-22T17:35:12Z

Hipparchus

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:35, 22 February 2026
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	===== Hipparchus =====		===== Hipparchus =====

			====== Rising (Lib II Cap V §10) ======
			<blockquote>The Rising of ...</blockquote>
			{\| class="wikitable"
			\|+
			!
			! colspan="2" \|east
			! colspan="2" \|south
			\|-
			!
			!lam1
			!lam2
			!lam1
			!lam2
			\|-
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|-
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|-
			\|star
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|-
			\|duration
			\| colspan="4" \|2 1/8 hours = 127.5 min = 31 7/8 degree
			\|}

			====== Setting (Lib II Cap VI §10) ======
			{\| class="wikitable"
			!
			! colspan="2" \|west
			! colspan="2" \|south
			\|-
			!
			!lam1
			!lam2
			!lam1
			!lam2
			\|-
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|-
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|-
			\|star
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|-
			\|duration
			\| colspan="4" \|2 2/3 hours = 160 min = 40°
			\|}

			====== Stars Mentioned ======
			{\| class="wikitable"
			\|+
			!
			!Greek
			!German
			!English
			!ident.
			!src
			!
			!lam_culm
			\|-
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|Lib II Cap V §10
			\|rising, east, first
			\|
			\|-
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|Lib II Cap V §10
			\|rising, east, last
			\|
			\|-
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|Lib II Cap VI §2
			\|setting CrB, south, last
			\|Psc 13.5
			\|-
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|Lib II Cap VI §13
			\|setting Aql, south, first
			\|Ari 2
			\|-
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|Lib III Cap I §9
			\|rising Ori, south, last
			\|Psc 13
			\|}

	===== Hyginus, Astronomica =====		===== Hyginus, Astronomica =====

YoulaAzkarrula: /* Almagest Κύων */

2026-02-06T10:05:14Z

Almagest Κύων

Show changes

Sushoff at 13:13, 20 January 2026

2026-01-20T13:13:05Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:13, 20 January 2026
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			Authors: {{PAGEAUTHORS}}
			----
	[[File:Canis Major (cma).tif\|alt=star chart\|thumb\|CMa star chart (IAU and Sky & Telescope magazine, Roger Sinnott & Rick Fienberg)]]		[[File:Canis Major (cma).tif\|alt=star chart\|thumb\|CMa star chart (IAU and Sky & Telescope magazine, Roger Sinnott & Rick Fienberg)]]
	One of the [[:Category:88_IAU-Constellations\|88 IAU constellations]]. This is the (one and only) constellation of the Dog in ancient Greek astronomy.		One of the [[:Category:88_IAU-Constellations\|88 IAU constellations]]. This is the (one and only) constellation of the Dog in ancient Greek astronomy.

Dorvic at 04:03, 3 May 2025

2025-05-03T04:03:34Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:03, 3 May 2025
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	===== Hipparchus =====		===== Hipparchus =====

	===== ~~Geminos~~ =====		===== Hyginus, Astronomica =====
			<blockquote>He is said to have been given by Jove as a guardian for Europa, and later to have come to Minos. When Minos was ill, Procris, wife of Cephalus, is said to have cured him, and received the dog as a reward for her services, as she was very fond of hunting and the dog was so swift that no beast could escape. After her death the dog came to Cephalus her husband, who brought it to Thebes with him when he came. There was a fox there which was said to be so swift that it could outrun all dogs. So when the two animals met, Jupiter, in a dilemma, as Istros says, changed them both to stone.

	==== Almagest Κύων ====		Some have said that this is the dog of Orion, and because Orion was devoted to hunting, the dog was put with him among the stars. Others have called it the dog of Icarus. These many suggestions have their own advocates.

			The Dog has one star on his tongue which itself is called Dog, and on its head another which Isis is thought to have put there under her own name, and to have called it Sirius on account of the brilliance of the flame because it seems to shine more than the rest. So, in order for men to recognize it more easily, she called it Sirius. (Mary Ward 1960)</blockquote>

			===== Almagest Κύων =====
	{\| class="wikitable"		{\| class="wikitable"
	!id		!id

Dorvic: /* Aratos */

2025-05-02T06:29:02Z

Aratos

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:29, 2 May 2025
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	===== Aratos =====		===== Aratos =====
	[326] Such a guardian, ~~too, beneath his towering back is~~ seen ~~to stand~~ on ~~his hind~~ legs, ~~the Dog [Canis Major] starenwrought~~, ~~yet~~ not ~~clearly marked in all his form~~, but ~~right by his~~ belly ~~he shows dark. The~~ tip of ~~his terrible~~ jaw is ~~marked by~~ a star that ~~keenest of all~~ blazes ~~with a searing flame~~ and ~~him~~ men call ~~Seirius~~. When he rises with the ~~Sun~~, no longer ~~do the trees deceive him~~ by ~~the feeble freshness of their~~ leaves. For ~~easily~~ with ~~his~~ keen ~~glance he~~ pierces their ranks, and to some ~~he gives strength~~ but of ~~other s he blights the bark utterly~~. ~~Of him too~~ at ~~this~~ setting ~~are we aware, but the~~ other stars of the ~~Dog are set round with fainter light to mark his~~ legs.		<blockquote>[326] Such is also his guardian Dog, seen standing on its two legs below the soaring back of Orion, variegated, not bright overall, but dark in the region of the belly as it moves round; but the tip of its [330] jaw is inset with a formidable star, that blazes most intensely: and so men call it the Scorcher. When Sirius rises with the sun, trees can no longer outwit it by feebly putting forth leaves. For with its keen shafts it easily pierces their ranks, [335] and strengthens some, but destroys all the growth of others. We also hear of it at its setting. The other stars lying round about Sirius define the legs more faintly. (Kidd 1997)</blockquote>

	~~[594?] Up rises the Hydra’s head and the bright-eyed Hare and Procyon and the forefeet of the flaming dog.~~

	[675?] With them the Lyre of Hermes and Cepheus to his breast drive up from the Eastern Ocean, what time all the rays of the mighty Dog are sinking and all of Orion setting, yea, all the Hare, which the Dog pursues in an unending race.

	(Kidd 1997)

	===== Eratosthenes =====		===== Eratosthenes =====