Celestial Atlas
Cancer <—     Canes Venatici: The Hunting Dogs     —> Canis Major
(possessive form Canum Venaticorum, abbreviation CVn)
Hold the cursor over any Greek letter shown in the text to see its English transliteration

Formed by Hevelius, in 1687, from a portion of Ursa Major. As early as 1533 maps of Boötes, the Herdsman, showed him holding leashes for two or three dogs; but the position of the dogs didn't correspond to any particular stars, and varied from one atlas to another. So Hevelius is the first to have placed them in their present position.


Map of Canes Venatici
Modified version of Wikimedia Commons map by Torsten Bronger


Stars in Canes Venatici

     Stars which have common names often have multiple names, so the common names shown (if any) cannot be considered authoritative. Right ascension and declination are given in 2000.0 coordinates.

α CVn

β CVn

γ CVn

δ CVn

ε CVn


Other Objects of Interest

M51 (= NGC 5194) -- The Whirlpool Galaxy -- A 9th-magnitude spiral galaxy (type Sc I) (RA 13 29 52, Dec +47 11 43)
NGC 5195, a 10th-magnitude barred spiral galaxy (type SB0-a) (RA 13 29 59, Dec +47 15 59); a companion of M51, sometimes referred to as M51b.
M94 (= NGC 4736) An 8th-magnitude spiral galaxy (RA 12 50 53, Dec +41 07 12)

Celestial Atlas
Cancer <—     Canes Venatici: The Hunting Dogs     —> Canis Major