The Constellation Canes Venatici
Source: Stellarium.
Canes Venatici is a small faint constellation introduced by the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius in the 17th century.
It is visible in the northern sky around April, and was previously part of Ursa Major.
While its stars are not prominent, it is a rich hunting ground for galaxies, including the famous face-on spiral galaxy M51. It also contains the globular cluster M3.
It lies close to the huge Virgo supercluster of galaxies, in a part of the sky well away from the Milky Way where there is little obscuration from nearby material. This makes it is a good place to observe the distant universe.
Canes Venatici is Latin for ‘running dogs’, and it is often represented as the dogs of Boötes the herdsman.
1687 (Hevelius)
1.1% of the sky
465.2 square degrees
| Stars | Open Clusters | Globular Clusters | Galaxies |
| Stars | Open Clusters | Globular Clusters | Galaxies |
| Cor Caroli (mag 2.9) | Messier 3 (mag 6.4) | NGC 4187 (mag 0.0) | |
| Chara (mag 4.3) | NGC 4229 (mag 0.0) | ||
| 24-CVn (mag 4.7) | NGC 4619 (mag 0.0) | ||
| AO CVn (mag 4.7) | NGC 4687 (mag 0.0) | ||
| AW CVn (mag 4.8) | NGC 4800 (mag 0.0) | ||
| 5-CVn (mag 4.8) | NGC 4901 (mag 0.0) | ||
| 25-CVn (mag 4.9) | NGC 4963 (mag 0.0) | ||
| HD 115004 (mag 4.9) | NGC 5009 (mag 0.0) | ||
| BH CVn (mag 4.9) | NGC 5117 (mag 0.0) | ||
| 6-CVn (mag 5.0) | NGC 5149 (mag 0.0) | ||
| BK CVn (mag 5.1) | NGC 5198 (mag 0.0) | ||
| 14-CVn (mag 5.2) | NGC 5238 (mag 0.0) | ||
| 3-CVn (mag 5.3) | NGC 5312 (mag 0.0) | ||
| Y CVn (mag 5.3) | NGC 5336 (mag 0.0) | ||
| HD 109317 (mag 5.4) | NGC 5352 (mag 0.0) | ||
| α¹-CVn (mag 5.5) | NGC 5399 (mag 0.0) | ||
| HD 120164 (mag 5.5) | NGC 5439 (mag 0.0) | ||
| 23-CVn (mag 5.6) | IC 3002 (mag 0.0) | ||
| HD 120420 (mag 5.6) | IC 3723 (mag 0.0) | ||
| HD 113847 (mag 5.6) | IC 3778 (mag 0.0) | ||
| 2-CVn (mag 5.7) | IC 3862 (mag 0.0) | ||
| 19-CVn (mag 5.8) | IC 3975 (mag 0.0) | ||
| HD 115723 (mag 5.8) | IC 4086 (mag 0.0) | ||
| TU CVn (mag 5.9) | IC 4178 (mag 0.0) | ||
| HD 111604 (mag 5.9) | IC 4225 (mag 0.0) |