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Star Lore Canes Venatici The Hunting Dogs

Canes Venatici is a small constellation in the northern hemisphere. It was one of seven new constellations designed by Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius in 1687.

For a brief overview of the main stars of the constellation, click the Astronomy icon. For an alphabetic listing of the constellation's main object in different cultures, click the Index icon.

The constellation is made of faint stars between the classical Ptolemaic constellations Ursa Major and Boötes. The transition of these previously uncategorized stars into two hunting dogs not mentioned in Greek mythology came through a translation errors:

In ancient descriptions, the Herdsman Boötes was shown with a shepherd’s crook. In the Arabic translation of Ptolemy's Almagest, the crook was called al-'aşā dhāt al-kullāb (العصا ذات الكُلاب‎), a staff having a hook.

In 1175, Gerard of Cremona of the Toledo School of Translators translated an Arabic version of the Almagest into Latin. Arabic star name expert Paul Kunitzsch concluded that Gerard mistook the word الكُلاب al-kullāb (hook) for the word الكِلاب al-kilāb (dogs) as, without diacritics, both words are spelled alike.

Almost 400 years later, German astronomer and cartographer Petrus Apianus picked up on Gerard's translation. In planispheres published in 1533, 1536 and 1540, respectively, he added a group of dogs (two in 1533 and 1536 and three in 1540) to his images of Boötes, though without assigning any specific stars to it. Then, in 1602, Dutch cartographer Willem Janszoon Blaeu assigned two dogs on a globe to the stars that would later become α and β Canum Venaticorum. This was the first appearance of the Hunting Dogs in what would later become their designated location.

Apianus, 1536; source: Iand Ridpath

Blaeu, 1602; source: Iand Ridpath

However, only a year later, on Blaeu's next globe, the dogs had disappeared. Ian Ridpath speculates that "... Blaeu perhaps learned that the dogs shown by Apianus were due to a mistranslation..."

The Jordan River With the uncategorized stars around Ursa Major being back up for grabs, another Dutch cartographer, Petrus Plancius turned them into the constellation Jordanis, on some maps called Jordanus or Jordanus Fluvius. In Plancius' design, the river originated at a star now known as Cor Caroli or α Canum Venaticorum and ended near the constellation Camelopardalis, - another one of Plancius' creations. Plancius' introduced his constellations on a globe in 1612 and throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, the Jordan River would flow through several star maps, until Johannes Hevelius replaced it with several constellations of his own design. Sources: John C. Barentine: The Lost Constellations, Ian Ridpath, Wikipedia

Fluvius Jordanus by Carel Allard, 1706 Source: atlascoelestis.com

The Borgian Globe The Borgian Globe is an Arabic celestial globe manufactured in 1225 and recovered in 1790 by Cardinal Stefano Borgia. It shows the Ptolemaic constellations, inscribed in Kufic characters. In addition, it shows two constellations not shown on any other globe. One is an oval shape, enclosing eight stars in the location of the modern constellations Leo Minor and Lynx. The other one is a square underneath the "Tail" of Ursa Major at the location of Canes Venatici.

karab alebl on the Borgian Globe Source: atlascoelestis.com

R.H. Allen, referring to orientalist Assemani, called the formation al karb al ibl, the Camel's Burden. Felice Stoppa called it karab alebl, the Camel Pack. Sources: R.H. Allen, atlascoelestis.com

The Sultan's Tables In 1439, Timurid sultan and astronomer Ulugh Beg set a new standard in astronomical observation publishing the Sultan's Tables or Zij-i-Sultani. In it, he called the star later known as α CVn Al Kabd al Asad. The name literally means "The liver of the Lion", referring to the Arabic celestial complex al Asad, the Lion. However, "Liver" in this case is not a biological term, but a technical one. According to R.H. Allen, it indicates "... the highest position of any star within the compass of a figure reckoned from the equator." Source: R.H. Allen

Cor Caroli - The Heart of the martyred King Between 1642 and 1651, England was torn apart by a Civil War between Royalists and Parliamentarians. One of the main events of that war was the beheading of King Charles I in 1649. In 1673, English mapmaker Francis Lamb published a book called "Astroscopium", which contained maps of the two celestial hemispheres. In the northern hemisphere, between the constellations Ursa Major, Boötes and Coma Berenices, Lamb labeled the brightest of the uncategorized stars Cor Caroli Regis Martyris - the heart of Charles the martyred king. Lamb and others after him drew a red heard around the star and adorned the heart with a crown. Until Hevelius's Canes Venatici took the place between the Bear and the Herdsman, the single star that was to become α Canum Venaticorum took the place of a unique single-star constellation. Later, when the Hunting Dogs took their place, the star was still shown with heart and crown on the collar of the southern dog. In 2016, the IAU's Working Group on Star Names registered Cor Caroli as the official name of α CVn, making it the only star visible to the naked eye that is named after a real historical person. Sources: Ian Ridpath, Wikipedia

The execution of King Charles I, 1649 Source: National Portrait Library

1700 celestial globe by Thomas Tuttell Sources: Iand Ridpath, British Library

Uranias Mirror, 1874 Source: Wikipedia

Between 1641 and 1687, Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius and his second wife Elisabeth compiled data of 1,564 stars - the largest number ever observed with the naked eye. A star catalogue called Catalogus Stellarum Fixarum and a star atlas called Firmamentum Sobiescianum were published by Elisabeth Hevelius in 1690, three years Johannes Hevelius' death. They contained ten new constellations, seven of which are still used today.

Hevelius transformed Plancius' Jordan River (see above) into three constellations of his own: Canes Venatici, Leo Minor and Lynx. Hevelius saw the Hunting Dogs as a couple of greyhounds. He named the northern, male one Asterion and the southern, female one Chara. The southern dog is formed by the two brightest stars in the constellation - the only stars with a Greek letter designation. α CVn was already named Cor Caroli. β CVn was named Chara, after the dog it represented. In 2016, the name was oficially accepted by the IAU's Working Group on Star Names. The brightest star in the northern dog now carries the designation Y CVn. 19th century priest and astronomer Angelo Secchi, the discoverer of the principle of stellar classification was so impressed by the brilliancy of the prismatic rays of this Red Giant star, that he called it La Superba, the Gorgeous, a name now officially accepted by the IAU. Sources: Ian Ridpath, R.H. Allen

Boötes & Canes Venatici Astrophilogeon, 1828

Chinese Astronomy In Chinese, Canes Venatici is written 獵 犬 座. In Chinese astronomy, the stars of Canes Venatici are located in two of the Three_Enclosures. In the Purple Forbidden Enclosure (Zǐ Wēi Yuán), the Whirlpool Galaxy and the faint stars 21 CVn and 24 CVn form Sāngōng, the Three Excellencies; according to Ian Ridpath, the Emperor’s closest and most trusted aides. Also in the Purple Forbidden Enclosure is Xiāng, the Prime Minister, commonly associated with 5 Canum Venaticorum. In the Supreme Palace Enclosure (Tài Wēi Yuán), a group of stars starting at α CVn and stretching across 10 CVn, β CVn, 6 CVn and 20 CVn to 67 UMa is seen as Chángchén, the Imperial Guards. Sources: Wikipedia, Ian Ridpath

Philosopher Mencius advising the emperor Source: China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Imperial Guards of the Tang Dynasty Source: pinterest.com

Whirlpool Galaxy since from Earth, it can be seen "face on", the Whirlpool Galaxy was the first object in which the spiral structure, typical for many galaxies, was observed. In 1845, Anglo-Irish astronomer William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse observed what was then known as a "nebula" and noticed its spiral structure. His precise drawing was the first closeup image of a galaxy. Sources: Wikipedia, NASA

Parson's drawing Source: Wikipedia

Whirlpool Galaxy and NGC 5195 Source: NASA

In the 2019 NameExoWorld project, in which each country on earth could name one star and one exoplanet, one star and planet in the constellation Canes Venatici received a proper name.

Ireland chose names that showcases both its national folklore and the hunting dog theme of the constellation. The hunting dogs of Irish mythical hunter-warrior Fionn mac Cumhaill were once humans. Fionn's aunt Tuiren and her sons Bran and Sceolang were turned into hounds by the jealous fairy Uchtdealbh. The star HAT-P-36 was named Tuiren; its planet HAT-P-36 b was named Bran. Sources: NameExoWorlds Approved Names, theirishroadtrip.com

Fionn MacCumhaill and his Hounds Statue by Lynn Kirkham; Source: kildare.ie

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