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 6.3) | Messier 94 (mag 8.2) | |
| Chara (mag 4.3) | Messier 51 (mag 8.4) | ||
| 24-CVn (mag 4.7) | Messier 106 (mag 8.4) | ||
| AO CVn (mag 4.7) | Messier 63 (mag 8.6) | ||
| AW CVn (mag 4.8) | NGC 4631 (mag 9.3) | ||
| 5-CVn (mag 4.8) | NGC 4449 (mag 9.4) | ||
| 25-CVn (mag 4.9) | NGC 5353 (mag 9.5) | ||
| HD 115004 (mag 4.9) | NGC 5195 (mag 9.6) | ||
| BH CVn (mag 4.9) | NGC 4490 (mag 9.8) | ||
| 6-CVn (mag 5.0) | NGC 5005 (mag 9.8) | ||
| BK CVn (mag 5.1) | NGC 4214 (mag 9.9) | ||
| 14-CVn (mag 5.2) | NGC 4395 (mag 10.1) | ||
| 3-CVn (mag 5.3) | NGC 4656 (mag 10.5) | ||
| Y CVn (mag 5.3) | NGC 4244 (mag 10.6) | ||
| HD 109317 (mag 5.4) | NGC 4111 (mag 10.7) | ||
| α¹-CVn (mag 5.5) | NGC 4618 (mag 10.8) | ||
| HD 120164 (mag 5.5) | NGC 4242 (mag 10.8) | ||
| 23-CVn (mag 5.6) | NGC 4145 (mag 11.0) | ||
| HD 120420 (mag 5.6) | NGC 4138 (mag 11.3) | ||
| HD 113847 (mag 5.6) | NGC 5377 (mag 11.5) | ||
| 2-CVn (mag 5.7) | NGC 4151 (mag 11.5) | ||
| 19-CVn (mag 5.8) | NGC 5354 (mag 11.5) | ||
| HD 115723 (mag 5.8) | IC 4182 (mag 11.9) | ||
| TU CVn (mag 5.9) | NGC 4485 (mag 11.9) | ||
| HD 111604 (mag 5.9) | NGC 5371 (mag 11.9) |