Canis Minor

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Canis Minor

constellation

Written by Erik Gregersen

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

Latin:: “Lesser Dog”

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Canis Minor, constellation in the northern sky, at about 8 hours right ascension and 5° north in declination. The brightest star in Canis Minor is Procyon, the eighth brightest star in the sky and the 13th nearest to Earth, at a distance of 11.4 light-years. In Greek mythology this constellation is identified either with one of the dogs of Orion the hunter or with Maera, the dog of Erigone.