Particulars:
General:
A small constellation of the northern hemisphere. Canes
Venatici is surrounded by Ursa Maioris to the north,
Boötes to the east and Coma Berenices to the south
(between RA=12h 10m and RA=14h 10m, DECL=+53 deg and DECL=+28
deg).
This constellation was introduced 1690 by Johannes Hevelius in
his Firmamentum Sobiescianum (see here his drawing (312
kB)). It belongs to the Ursa Maioris constellation family.
Characteristic for this region of the sky is the high amount of
galaxies.
Stars and other objects
The double alpha CVn, also known as Cor Caroli
(meaning "The Heart of Carles"; this name was given to
the star by Edmund Halley in honor of Charles II of England), is
a blue-white star of 2.9 mag. The companion is a 5 mag star,
which can easily be resolved by small telescopes.
With a magnitude of about 6 the globular cluster M3 is
still among the brightest of its class in the sky. It appears as
a hazy patch in binoculars. Small scopes show a softly glowing
lightball. To resolve individual stars telescopes with an
aperture of 100mm and more are needed.
The famous Whirlpool Nebula, M51, is
probably the most notable object in this region of the sky. It is
well worth an observation, but within the lightpollution of
cities is may not been seen. Next to M51 lies the
companion galaxy, NGC 5195. Both galaxies are physically
related. To separate the two galaxies large telescopes are
required. In small scopes these galaxies appear as a misty patch
which defined starlike points marking the core of each galaxy.
The spiral galaxy M63, also known as Sunflower
Galaxy, has been discovered in 1779 by Pierre Mechain.
The whole appearance is somewhat grainy.
The Sab galaxy M94 shows an extremely bright core. In the
outer regions star formation is still taking place. This galaxy
is seen head-on and resembles a comet in smaller scopes.
Another interesting spiral galaxy is M106 (Sbp). On some
photographs it looks like a barred spiral (it may lies somewhere
between a normal and a barred spiral).
The meteor shower Canes Venaticids is active during
January 13th and January 30th (maximum around January 24/25th).
It has been discovered by Zdenek Sekanina.
Mythological Background:
Canes Venatici is thought to represent the two dogs of the herdman Boötes.