Dogs chasing" bears!?

Event Date: March 1st

Time: 2:40(.23) AM

Brief

   I ended February with a "dog showing": Canis Major and Minor, along with the two hunting dogs, Canes Venatici (CV).  While the Big and Little dogs act as companions as the hunter Orion, it makes CV seem out of place.  Besides that they are "depicted as being companions to Boötes" [the Herdsman], which I mentioned earlier, it was also believed they they chase Ursa Major and Minor around the north celestial pole (n.c.p.).  Given the declination of CV, not too far from that of the Big Bear's feet, this makes some sense.  However, Ursa Minor is further north, with some of its stars very close to the pole.  Instead of me getting too analytical about this, let's take a look at them.

   The first image shows how high CV gets at transit, while the second shows the constellation along with the circumpolar Bears.  Notice that the end of Ursa Major's tail, marking the handle of the Big Dipper, is also not far from zenith, while the end tail-star of Ursa Minor, being Polaris.  Both images include the alt-az grid.

click on images to enlarge: courtesy of Starry Night Pro Plus, version 6.4.3, by Simulation Curriculum Corp.

Detailed

   

   For both images, Cor Caroli, the brighter of the two CV stars that make up its stick figure, is very near zenith when it transits; its declination is a little over 38º.  Therefore, as seen from most mid-northern latitudes, the star is at or very close to zenith.

  At the time above, Ursa Major is well above the horizon, with its head stars closest to the n.c.p.  I brightened the illustrations in image two, so we could see if the dogs are indeed chasing the bears.  By the appearance, they are almost on the heal of Ursa Major, while Ursa Minor is always facing the dogs doing this, facing 'Major's tail.  The altitude/azimuth gridlines show how all this activity is high in our mid-northern latitude sky.  At latitudes further north, around 50-60º north, they are all high in the sky, while when viewed at the celestial equator, they are only above the horizon for half the night on average.