Canes Venatici

A northern constellation representing the hunting dogs of Boötes. Its brightest star is Cor Caroli, and it contains the Whirlpool Galaxy.

Cor Caroli: A binary star system and the brightest star in Canes Venatici. This constellation’s brightest star marks one of the dogs’ collars in traditional depictions.
Constellation: A formally defined region of the celestial sphere, often associated with a traditional star pattern. Canes Venatici is one of the 88 regions that divide the modern sky.
Johannes Hevelius: A 17th-century astronomer who created detailed star charts and introduced several constellations. He established Canes Venatici as a constellation in his star atlas.
Star hopping: A method of locating celestial objects by moving between recognizable stars in the sky. Observers can use nearby stars in Ursa Major to locate Canes Venatici’s deep-sky targets.
Whirlpool Galaxy: A grand-design spiral galaxy interacting with a smaller companion galaxy, NGC 5195. This prominent deep-sky object lies within Canes Venatici.
Boötes: A northern constellation traditionally depicted as a herdsman or bear driver. Canes Venatici is pictured as the pair of hunting dogs held by Boötes.
Uranographia: Johannes Hevelius’s 1690 celestial atlas, published after his death. The atlas helped fix Canes Venatici’s depiction and place among constellations.
Messier 51: The catalog designation for the Whirlpool Galaxy and its interacting companion NGC 5195. This widely observed galaxy is a principal telescopic target in Canes Venatici.
Sunflower Galaxy: A spiral galaxy in Canes Venatici with tightly wound arms and prominent dust lanes. It is another notable galaxy found inside the constellation’s boundaries.
Ursa Major: A large northern constellation that includes the Big Dipper asterism. Canes Venatici lies south of this familiar northern constellation.

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Messier 106Narrower topic: Messier 106 lies within this constellation’s boundaries.