Orion, ¡y muchos perros!

Event Date: February 28th

Time: 7:06(.51) PM/10:00 PM

Brief

   Translation of my header from Spanish to English is simply as follows: Orion, and many dogs (in the sky, that is)!  As I was showing Orion's illustration yesterday, preceded by his easy-to-recognize stick figure, I ended by mentioning that there are other constellations in the sky that resemble figures or animals; one of which seemingly follows Orion, appropriately so, as one of his two companions: Canis Major.  Unlike his "little brother", perhaps literally known as Canis Minor, the bigger dog's stick figure actually looks like that of a dog's body figure.  Canis Minor, on the other hand, is just two stars, with a stick figure of a line connecting both to indicate the length of the dog's body.  One of those stars, Procyon (labeled), is the 8th brightest in our sky, making the Little Dog easy to locate.  The only other unaided eye star, dimmer Eta Canis Minoris.  However, compare the stick figures in the first image to notice what I am talking about.  That one is followed by one showing their illustrations.

Detailed

   

As Canis Major's stick figure shows in image one, we seem to be looking at him side-view: his tail, and two sets of legs (closer ones to us showing).  As mentioned in the brief, this is much more interesting than Canis Minor, although both dogs symbolize one thing as a duo, so their presence can not be overlooked.  How so?  Look back at my M3 entry from late last month.  Although I may have mentioned the declination for that fine globular cluster, I don't recall talking much about the small constellation that it is part of: Canes Venatici* (CV).  This is the second set of hunting dogs in the sky.  Although Major and Minor are dogs accompanying a hunter, being Orion, they are not given that name; hence it is given to the other two, which are close to Boötes, the Herdsman.  Take a look at this third image of them, in their location near Arcturus, shown below the dogs' feet.  For this one, I forwarded the clock ahead by about three hours to show them high enough up.  Similar to Canis Minor, as just two stars: Chara and previously mentioned Cor Caroli. As the case with Canis Minor, the CV stick figure is not as impressive as Canis Major.  I dimmed the image, so as not to overwhelm the stick figure, which in thinking, is probably a silly thing to do, given their dimness!

*True, that different spelling for the first word is correct, although I do not know why!

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