"The Big Dog"
Location: R.A. = 7h, Dec. = 20 S
Mythology:
The most common references to Canis Major, and its companion Canis Minor,
state that they are Orion's two hunting dogs. Others claim that the
dogs belonged to Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt, or Helen of Troy.
Individually, Canis Major is sometimes thought to be Laelaps, the fastest
dog ever to walk the Earth. Laelaps was so fast, in fact, that many
claimed even the fastest deer could not outrun him. Laelaps had had
many owners, the last one being Procris, the daughter of King Erechtheus
(a son of Hermes) of Athens. Procris was married to Cephalus.
Procris is reported to have received the dog directly from Artemis, although
some stories report her receiving the dog from King Minos of Crete -- if
so, then it is the same dog presented to the maiden Europa (for which a
moon of Jupiter is named) by Zeus after he had carried her off to Crete.
Procris also possessed a magic spear, which never missed its target.
Unfortunately, while hunting, Cephalus accidentally killed Procris with
the magic spear and was subsequently banished from Athens. After
being banished, Cephalus ended up in Thebes of Boeotia (not Egypt), which
was being plaqued by a fox -- a fox so fast it couldn't be caught.
In an effort to regain honor, Cephalus sent Laelaps after the fox.
The two animals ran and ran, but Laelaps was never able to catch the fox.
Finally, Zeus intervened and turned the two animals into stone. Zeus
honored Laelaps, but not the fox, by setting him among the stars.
Other Interesting Sights: Sirius, or the Dog Star as it is also called, is the nose of Canis Major, and the brightest star we can see -- not counting our Sun, of course. Sirius was important to the Ancient Egyptians because when it started to appear in the morning sky, the Nile would soon flood, and they could plant their crops (such predictions using stars explains the early connection between astronomy the science and astrology the belief). It is also interesting to note that the first white dwarf discovered is the companion to Sirius, called Sirius B (a white dwarf is all that remains of smaller stars when they run out of nuclear fuel). The globular star cluster M41, which is visible to the naked eye, is found in Canis Major just slightly below (South) of Sirius.
M41