Canis major constellation from Johannes Hevelius' Prodromus astronomiae, Firmamentum Sobiescianum, sive Uranographia, 1687. Canis Major was one of the 48 constellations described by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy and is now one of the 88 modern conste
Canis major constellation from Johannes Hevelius' Prodromus astronomiae, Firmamentum Sobiescianum, sive Uranographia, 1687. Canis Major was one of the 48 constellations described by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy and is now one of the 88 modern constellations defined by the International Astronomical Union. Its name is Latin for greater dog, and is commonly represented as one of the dogs following Orion the hunter. Canis Major contains Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, known as the "dog star". It is bright because of its proximity to our Solar System. Canis Major is a constellation in the southern hemisphere's summer (or northern hemisphere's winter) sky, bordered by Monoceros (which lies between it and Canis Minor) to the north, Puppis to the east and southeast, Columba to the southwest, and Lepus to the west. The Hevelius Firmamentum was the first star atlas to rival Bayer's Uranometria in accuracy, utility, innovation, and influence. Hevelius was perhaps the most active observational astronomer of the last half of the seventeenth century. His star atlas is notable for many reasons. It contains 56 large, double page engraved star maps. The star positions for the charts were derived from his own star catalog, based on his own observations, which was first published along with the atlas. It is unique among the Grand Atlases in choosing to depict the constellations as they would appear on a globe, that is, from the outside looking in, rather than from a geocentric point of view, as Bayer and most others adopted.
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