Canis Major

CMa star chart (IAU and Sky & Telescope magazine, Roger Sinnott & Rick Fienberg)

One of the 88 IAU constellations.

Etymology and History

The Greek constellation ...

Origin of Constellation

Almagest Κύων

id	Greek (Heiberg 1898)	English (Toomer 1984)	ident.
	Κυνὸς ἀστερισμός
1	ἐν τῷ στόματι λαμπρότατος καλούμενος Κύωυ καὶ ὑπόκιρρος.	The star in the mouth, the brightest, which is called 'the Dog' and is reddish	alf CMa
2	ὁ ἐπὶ τῶν ὡτοη.	The star on the ears	tet CMa
3	ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆ	The star on the head	gam CMa
4	τῶν ἐκ τῷ τραχήλῳ β ὁ βόρειος	The northernrriost of the 2 stars in the neck	iot CMa
5	ὁ φόσιος αὐτῶν	The southernmost of them	pi CMa
6	ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ στήθους.	The star on the chest	nu3 CMa
7	τῶν ἐπὶ τοῦ δεξιοῦ γόνατος β ὁ βόρειος.	The northernmost of the 2 stars on the right knee	nu2 CMa
8	ὁ νοτιώτερος αὐτῶν.	The southernmost of them	bet CMa
9	ὁ ἐπ’ ἄκρῳ τῷ ἐμπροσθίῳ ποδί	The star on the end of the front leg	xi1 CMa
10	τῶν ἐν τῷ ἀριστερῷ γόνατι β ὁ προηγούμευος.	The more advanced of the 2 stars in the left knee	xi2 CMa
11	ὁ ὁ ἐπόμενος αὐτῶν	The rearmost of them	omi2 CMa
12	τῶν ἐν τῷ ἀριστερῷ ὤμῳ β’ ὁ ἑπόμενος;	The rearmost of the 2 stars in the left shoulder	omi1 CMa
13	ὁ προηγούμενος αὐτῶν	The more advanced of them	del CMa
14	ὁ ἐν τῇ ἐκφύσει τοῦ ἀριστεροῦ μηροῦ.	The star in the place where the 1eft thigh joins [the body)	del CMa
15	ὁ ὑπὸ τὴν κοιλίαν ἐν τοῦς μεσομήροις	The star below the belly, in the middle of the thighs	eps CMa
16	ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς ἀγκύλης τοῦ δεξιοῦ ποδός	The star on the joint of the right leg	kap CMa
17	ὁ ἐπ’ ἄκρου τοῦ δεξιοῦ ποδός.	The star on the end of the right leg	zet CMa
18	ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς οὐρᾶς	The star on the tail	eta CMa
	ἀστέρες τῆ, ὥν αἱ μεγέθους ἂ, γ’ ἓ, δ’ ἓ, ε’ ξ.	{18 stars, 1 of the first magnitude, 5 of the third, 5 ofthe fourth, 7 of the fifth}
	Οἱ περὶ τὸν Κύνα ἀμόρφωτοι.
19	ὁ ἀπ’ ἄρκτου τῆς κορυφῆς τοῦ Κυνός.	The star to the north of the top of The Dog	22 Mon
20	τῶν ὑπὸ τοὺς ὀπισθίους πόδας ὡς ἐπ’ εὐθείας ὁ ὁ νοτιώτατος.	The southernmost ofthe 4 stars almost on a straight line under the hind legs	θ Col
21	ὁ τούτου βορειότερος.	The one north of this	κ Col
22	ὁ ἔτι τούτου βορειότερος.	The one north again of this	δ Col
23	ὁ λοιπὸς καὶ βορειότερος τῶν δ	The last and northernmost of the 4	λ CMa
24	τῶν πρὸς δυσμὰς τοῦς τέσσαρσιη ὡς ἐπ’ εὐθείας γ ὁ προἠγούμενος	The most advanced ofthe 3 stars almost on a straightline to the west of the [ above] four	μ Col
25	ὁ μέσος αὐτῶν	The middle one	λ Col
26	ὁ ἑπόμευος τῶν τριῶν.	The rearmost of the three	γ Col
27	τῶν ὑπὸ τούτους β λαμπρῶν ὁ ἐπόμευος.	The rearmost of thc 2 bright stars under these	β Col
28	ὁ προηγούμενος αὐτῶν.	The more advanccd of them	α Col
29	ὁ λοιπὸς καὶ νοτιώτερος τῶν προειρημένων.	The last star, to the south of the abovc	ε Col
all	ἀστέρες ἱα, ὥν β’ μεγέθους β, δ’ 9.	{11 stars, 2 of the second magnitude, 9 of the fourth)

References

• References (general)
• References (Babylonian)
• References (ancient Greco-Roman)
• References (medieval)