Abbreviation: Â CVn
English Name: Â The Hunting Dogs
Genitive:Â Cor Caroli
Hemisphere:Â Â Northern HemisphereÂ
Location:Â Between the constellations of Puppis and Lepus.
Visible between latitudes: Â +90 and -40 degrees
Best season:Â Spring
Seen in three season:Â Winter, Spring and Summer
Best seen in:Â Â May
Seen between: Circumpolar (This constellation of Camelopardalis stays in the Sky all the year.)
Right Ascension (RA):Â 13 hour
Declination (DEC):Â +40 degrees
Area (square degrees): Â 465 (38th)
Canes Venatici (The Hunting Dogs)
- Canes Venatici rides the sky south of Ursa Major’s Big Dipper.
- Chara is one of the brightest carbon stars in the sky.
Messier Objects
- M3 – Globular Cluster; it’s easy to find with binoculars or small telescope.
- M51 – The Whirlpool Galaxy; seen almost face-on, one of the most famous galaxies in the sky.
- M63 – The Sunflower Galaxy; one of the brightest spiral galaxies visible in the north sky.
- M94 – The galaxy is surrounded by a faint halo.
- M106 – This galaxy resembles M31 Andromeda Galaxy, but it is ten times as far away.
Features of interest
- NGC 4244 – Large edge-on spiral, found eight degrees west of Cor Caroli.
- NGC 4485 and NGC 4490 -  Two splendid galaxies in the same field: NGC4485 is more compact (this one is sometimes called the Cocoon Galaxy), while NGC4490 is larger and brighter. Located less than one degree northwest of beta CVn.
- NGC 4631 – Very large and bright, seen edge-on. Found in a rather barren field, six degrees south of Cor Caroli and two degrees west. In the same field are two more galaxies, NGC 4656 and NGC4657, just southwest of NGC4631.
Named Stars
- Cor Caroli (Alpha 2 CVn)
- Chara (Beta CVn)
Others
- Photo of the constellation – Canes Venatici, as it appears to the naked-eye. (Lines have been added for clarity.)
- Sky Chart  –  Canes Venatici
- List of stars in Canes Venatici.
Back to The 88 Constellations Lists page.