CANIS MAJOR

Larger Dog Großer Hund Nagy Kutya

Canis Major is one of the oldest and most well-known constellations, which resembles a dog following the hunter Orion. For centuries only one star named Sirius represented the whole constellation, which is the brightest star in the sky. Canis Major is both visible on the northern and southern hemisphere, and can be best observed during the winter months from the northern hemisphere.

As Sirius was a spectacular and well-known star since the ancient times, it is a part of many mythologies. It played a significant role in ancient cultures, like Mesopotamia, Egypt and Assyria. Later it also appeared in ancient Greece and the Roman empire, where it also got its name ("seirios means approx. shining"). It was also the Greek astronomers, who completed the constellation by connecting some of the neighbouring stars to Sirius, and thus forming a shape that resembles a dog. The constellation doesn't appear in every mythology as a dog, for example the Hindus called it hunter, the Australian aboriginals saw an eagle in it, and some Native American tribes named it a salmon, that swims in the middle of a river, and is chased by a small and a big canoe (which are represented by the Orion constellation).