Canis Major

Canis Major ( pron.: /ˌkeɪnɨs ˈmeɪdʒər/ ) is one of the 88 modern  constellations, and was included in the 2nd-century astronomer  Ptolemy's 48 constellations. Its name is  Latin for 'greater dog', and is commonly represented as one of the dogs following  Orion the hunter (see also  Canis Minor the 'lesser dog'). Canis Major contains  Sirius, the  brightest star<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;"> in the night sky, known as the 'dog star'. It is bright because of its proximity to our Solar System. In contrast, the other bright stars of the constellation are distant luminous  bright giants<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;"> and  supergiants<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;">. At magnitude 1.5,  Epsilon Canis Majoris<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;">(Adhara) is the second brightest star of the constellation, followed by  Delta<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;"> (Wezen) at 1.8,  Beta<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;"> (Mirzam) at 2.0 and  Eta<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;"> (Aludra) at 2.4. The red supergiant  VY Canis Majoris<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;"> is one of the largest stars known.