CANIS MINOR, O CÃO MENOR




Da Terra  ao Céu
 e ao Infinito

Constelações, Estrelas e Objetos Celestes
(sob o ponto de vista do Mundo Ocidental)
Suas histórias, seus mitos, seus significados e suas sintetizadas descrições

Reunião das Informações e Compilação,
Tradução para a língua portuguesa (em alguns momentos)
bem como Comentários Pessoais:
Janine Milward



Os desenhos formados pelas estrelas - AS CONSTELAÇÕES - são como janelas que se abrem para a infinitude do universo e que possibilitam nossa mente a ir percebendo que existe mais, bem mais, entre o céu e a terra bem como percebendo que o caos, vagarosamente, vai se tornando Cosmos e este por nossa mente sendo conscientizado. Quer dizer, nossa mente é tão infinita quanto infinito é o Cosmos.



Alguns dados
(tais como Ascensão Reta e Declinação, em muitos dos casos)
são época/equinócio 1980
e devem requerer do Caminhante do Céu
alguma pequena retificação.
Obrigada por sua compreensão.

Visitando os Sites abaixo,
 você conseguirá informações atualizadas e preciosas
sobre os Objetos Celestiais de seu interesse:

NASA/IPAC EXTRAGALACTIC DATABASE –
NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) -  operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.


THE NIGHT SKY ATLAS
The night sky atlas creates images of any part of the night sky, allowing easy location of any object. Detailed chart images show all stars visible to the naked eye, the constellations, Messier objects, and names of the brightest stars.

The Internet STELLAR DATABASE
- stars within 75 light-years.  (Plus some of the more well-known "name brand" stars farther away.)







CANIS MINOR



Olá!

Caro Leitor,
aproveite estes momentos 
em que a Lua vem minguando, minguando
e chegando somente alta madrugada,
para bem observar 
 Eridanus, Canis Major e Minor, Monoceros e Lepus 
- o séquito que faz parte
de alguns dos Mitos sobre Orion, o Gigante Caçador.

Estas constelações vêm sendo por nós comentadas
neste momento em que começam a despedir-se
de nossos olhares,
caindo mais e mais cedo
por detrás do horizonte oeste
ao começo da noite.


Stellarium







Nesta Postagem, Caro Leitor,
estaremos trazendo algumas informações
sobre o Cão Menor, Canis Minor,
e sobre sua estrela-alpha Procyon.

Segundo Ronaldo Rogério de Freitas Mourão,
em seu Atlas Celeste,

"Procyon.  Alpha Canis Minoris.  Estrela dupla
Uma estrela binária amarelada esbranquiçada
 situada no corpo do Cão Menor. 
De Prokuon, Antes do Cão, Aquela que Precede Sirius
 em alusão ao fato de nascer antes de Sirius 
(em algumas latitudes, somente). 
 Esta é considerada a oitava estrela em brilho no céu.  
É uma estrela dupla e sua companheira, 
Procyon B,
 é uma anã branca de magnitude 11."


O que é bem interessante percebermos
é o fato de que
na latitude e longitude onde vivo
- no hemisfério sul -,
sempre e sempre eu vejo primeiramente ascender
através o horizonte leste
a belíssima Sírius, estrela-alpha Canis Majoris...,
para somente depois, então,
entrar em cena Procyon, um tantinho mais tarde.

E, da mesma forma,
sempre observo Sirius escondendo-se
por detrás do horizonte oeste
para somente depois, então,
ser seguida por Procyon, um tantinho mais tarde.

Quer dizer,
eu vejo Procyon não como aquela que precede Sirius
e sim como aquela que segue Sirius.

De qualquer maneira,
Caro Leitor,
convido você a observar os céus estrelados
mais ao oeste
nestes momentos
e então decidir por você mesmo/a
sobre esta questão.

Com um abraço estrelado,
Janine Milward








CANIS MINOR, O CÃO MENOR


Posicionamento:
Ascensão Reta 7h4m / 8h9m   Declinação -o’0o.1 / +13o.2


Mito:
Esta constelação representa Maera, o cão de Icarius, 
que afogou-se por causa de sua  tristeza pela morte de seu mestre 
- e esse mito está relacionado ao mito do Boieiro.  
Dizem, no entanto, 
que não é toda a constelação que representa Maera 
e sim somente sua estrela-alfa, Procyom.

De acordo com outro mito,
 teria sido o cão de Helena, que se perdeu no Euripus.


Fronteiras:
Canis Minor faz fronteira com Monoceros, Hydra, Câncer, Gemini



Estrelas, em Cão Menor:

Procyon.  Alpha Canis Minoris.  Estrela dupla
Ascensão Reta 07h 38,2m - Declinação +5o 17’
Magnitude visual 0,48 - Distância 11 anos-luz
Uma estrela binária amarelada esbranquiçada
 situada no corpo do Cão Menor. 
De Prokuon, Antes do Cão, Aquela que Precede Sirius
 em alusão ao fato de nascer antes de Sirius 
(em algumas latitudes, somente). 
 Esta é considerada a oitava estrela em brilho no céu.  
É uma estrela dupla e sua companheira, 
Procyon B,
 é uma anã branca de magnitude 11.


Gomeisa - Beta Canis Minoris
Magnitude visual 2.9 porém de luminosidade -1.1
em função de sua distância de 210 anos-luz.
A Chorosa, 
nome árabe proveniente da lenda que relata que Gomeisa chorou, 
ao lado de Procium, 
a morte de Rigel.


6a. Edição do Atlas Celeste
de autoria de Ronaldo Rogério de Freitas Mourão,
Editora Vozes, Petrópolis, ano de 1986





http://www.iau.org/static/public/constellations/gif/CMI.gif


Canis Minor (C Mi), o Cão Menor, é uma pequena constelação do hemisfério celestial norte, "espremida" entre o equador celeste e a eclíptica. O genitivo, usado para formar nomes de estrelas, é Canis MinorisProcyon é a estrela mais brilhante.
As constelações vizinhas são CancerGeminiMonoceros e Hydra.
http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canis_Minor

Prócion (Procyon, α CMi, α Canis Minoris, Alpha Canis Minoris) é a estrela mais brilhante da constelação de Cão Menor e a nona estrela mais brilhante do firmamento.
Atualmente, Procyon é orbitada por uma anã branca, denominada Prócion B (Procyon B).
http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pr%C3%B3cion

Beta Canis Minoris (β CMi / β Canis Minoris) é a segunda estrela mais brilhante da constelação de Canis Minor, com uma magnitude aparente de 2,89.2 Tem o nome tradicional Gomeisa.8 Com base em medições de paralaxe, está localizada a aproximadamente 162 anos-luz (49,6 parsecs) da Terra.1
O espectro de Beta Canis Minoris corresponde a uma classificação estelar de B8 Ve.3 A classe de luminosidade 'V' indica que é uma estrela da sequência principal, o que significa que está gerando energia através da fusão de hidrogênio em seu núcleo. Está irradiando essa energia de sua atmosfera externa a uma temperatura efetiva de 12 050 K,3 o que dá a ela o brilho azul-branco típico de estrelas de classe B.9 Tem 3,5 vezes a massa e o raio do Sol.3 5 Sua idade estimada é de cerca de 160 milhões de anos.7
Como muitas estrelas de classe B, Beta Canis Minoris está rotacionando rapidamente, com uma velocidade de rotação projetada de 210 km/s,6 o que é apenas o limite inferior da verdadeira velocidade de rotação. Tem um período de rotação de cerca de um dia.8 Essa rápida rotação faz que Beta Canis Minoris tenha um fino disco circunstelar de material gasoso ejetado da estrela, o que significa que é uma estrela Be que apresenta linhas de emissão, conforme indicado pela notação 'e' na classificação estelar. Esse disco gasoso é quente tem cerca de três vezes o raio da estrela.3
Beta Canis Minoris apresenta uma pequena variação no brilho, variando de magnitude entre 2,84 e 2,92, sendo uma variável Gamma Cassiopeiae.4 Observações com o telescópio espacial MOST mostram que as variações do brilho têm um padrão cíclico formado por várias frequências sobrepostas, sendo que as duas principais frequências são de 3,257 e 3,282 ciclos por dia. Assim, Beta Canis Minoris pertence a uma classe chamada estrelas Be pulsantes lentas, ou SPBe.3
http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_Canis_Minoris


Canis minor constellation map.png

"Canis minor constellation map". Licenciado sob CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canis_minor_constellation_map.png#/media/File:Canis_minor_constellation_map.png




Position Alpha Cmi.png
Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26559


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procyon
Procyon (BrE /ˈprsi.ɒn/;[12] pro-see-on), also designated Alpha Canis Minoris (α Canis Minoris, abbreviated Alpha CMiα CMi), is the brightest star in the constellation of Canis Minor. To the naked eye, it appears to be a single star, the eighth-brightest in the night sky with a visual apparent magnitude of 0.34.[3] It is a binary star system, consisting of a white main-sequence star of spectral type F5 IV–V, named Procyon A, and a faint white dwarf companion of spectral type DQZ,[5] named Procyon B.
As determined by the European Space Agency Hipparcos astrometry satellite,[1][13] it lies at a distance of just 11.46 light-years (3.51 parsecs),[2] and is therefore one of Earth's nearest stellar neighbours. Its closest neighboring star is Luyten's Star, about 1.12 ly (0.34 pc) away, and the latter would appear as a visual magnitude 2.7 star in the night sky of a hypothetical planet orbiting Procyon.[14]

Visibility

Procyon is the eighth-brightest star in the night sky, culminating at midnight on January 14.[15] It forms one of the three vertices of the Winter Triangle asterism, in combination with Sirius and Betelgeuse.[16] The prime period for evening viewing of Procyon is in late winter.[15]
It has a color index of 0.42, and its hue has been described as having a faint yellow tinge to it.[16]

System

Procyon is a binary star system with a bright primary component, Procyon A, having an apparent magnitude of 0.34,[3] and a faint companion, Procyon B, at magnitude 10.7.[4] The pair orbit each other with a period of 40.82 years along an elliptical orbit with an eccentricity of 0.407. The plane of their orbit is inclined at an angle of 31.1° to the line of sight with the Earth.[10] The average separation of the two components is 15.0 AU, a little less than the distance between Uranus and the Sun, though the eccentric orbit carries them as close as 8.9 AU and as far as 21.0 AU.[17]

Primary star

The primary has a stellar classification of F5IV–V, indicating that it is a late-stage F-type main-sequence star. Procyon A is bright for its spectral class, suggesting that it is evolving into a subgiant that has nearly fused its core hydrogen into helium, after which it will expand as "burning" moves outside the core.[3] As it continues to expand, the star will eventually swell to about 80 to 150 times its current diameter and become a red or orange color. This will probably happen within 10 to 100 million years.[18]
The effective temperature of the stellar atmosphere is an estimated 6,530 K,[3] giving Procyon A a white hue. It is 1.5 times the solar mass (M), twice the solar radius (R), and has 6.9 times the Sun's luminosity (L).[3][19] Both the core and the envelope of this star are convective; the two regions being separated by a wide radiation zone.[7]

Oscillations

In late June 2004, Canada's orbital MOST satellite telescope carried out a 32-day survey of Procyon A. The continuous optical monitoring was intended to confirm solar-like oscillations in its brightness observed from Earth and to permit asteroseismology. No oscillations were detected and the authors concluded that the theory of stellar oscillations may need to be reconsidered.[20] However, others argued that the non-detection was consistent with published ground-based radial velocity observations of solar-like oscillations.[21][22]
Photometric measurements from the NASA Wide Field Infrared Explorer (WIRE) satellite from 1999 and 2000 showed evidence of granulation (convection near the surface of the star) and solar-like oscillations.[23] Unlike the MOST result, the variation seen in the WIRE photometry was in agreement with radial velocity measurements from the ground.

White dwarf companion

Like Sirius B, Procyon's companion is a white dwarf that was inferred from astrometric data long before it was observed. Its existence had been postulated by Friedrich Bessel as early as 1844, and, although its orbital elements had been calculated by Arthur Auwers in 1862 as part of his thesis,[24] Procyon B was not visually confirmed until 1896 when John Martin Schaeberle observed it at the predicted position using the 36-inch refractor at Lick Observatory.[25] It is more difficult to observe from Earth than Sirius B, due to a greater apparent magnitude difference and smaller angular separation from its primary.[17]
At 0.6 M, Procyon B is considerably less massive than Sirius B; however, the peculiarities of degenerate matter ensure that it is larger than its more famous neighbor, with an estimated radius of 8,600 km, versus 5,800 km for Sirius B.[5][26] The radius agrees with white dwarf models that assume a carbon core.[5] It has a stellar classification of DQZ,[5] having a helium-dominated atmosphere with traces of heavy elements. For reasons that remain unclear, the mass of Procyon B is unusually low for a white dwarf star of its type.[7] With a surface temperature of 7,740 K, it is also much cooler than Sirius B; this is a testament to its lesser mass and greater age. The mass of the progenitor star for Procyon B was about 2.59+0.22
−0.18
 M
 and it came to the end of its life some 1.19±0.11 Gyr ago, after a main-sequence lifetime of 680±170 Myr.[7]

X-ray emission

Attempts to detect X-ray emission from Procyon with nonimaging, soft X-ray–sensitive detectors prior to 1975 failed.[27][27] Extensive observations of Procyon were carried out with the Copernicus and TD-1A satellites in the late 1970s.[28] The X-ray source associated with Procyon A/B was observed on April 1, 1979, with the Einstein Observatory high-resolution imager (HRI).[29] The HRI X-ray pointlike source location is ~4" south of Procyon A, on the edge of the 90% confidence error circle, indicating identification with Procyon A rather than Procyon B which was located about 5" north of Procyon A (about 9" from the X-ray source location).[28]

Etymology and cultural significance

α Canis Minoris (Latinised to Alpha Canis Minoris) is the star's Bayer designation.
The name Procyon comes from the Ancient Greek Προκύων (Prokyon), meaning "before the dog", since it precedes the "Dog Star" Sirius as it travels across the sky due to Earth's rotation. (Although Procyon has a greater right ascension, it also has a more northerly declination, which means it will rise above the horizon earlier than Sirius from most northerly latitudes.) In Greek mythology, Procyon is associated with Maera, a hound belonging to Erigone, daughter of Icarius of Athens.[30] In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN)[31] to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN's first bulletin of July 2016[32] included a table of the first two batches of names approved by the WGSN; which included Procyon for this star.
The two dog stars are referred to in the most ancient literature and were venerated by the Babylonians and the Egyptians, In Babylonian mythology, Procyon was known as Nangar (the Carpenter), an aspect of Marduk, involved in constructing and organising the celestial sky.[33]
The constellations in Macedonian folklore represented agricultural items and animals, reflecting their village way of life. To them, Procyon and Sirius were Volci "the wolves", circling hungrily around Orion which depicted a plough with oxen.[34]
Rarer names are the Latin translation of Procyon, Antecanis, and the Arabic-derived names Al Shira and Elgomaisa. Medieval astrolabes of England and Western Europe used a variant of this, Algomeiza/Algomeyza.[35] Al Shira derives from الشعرى الشامية aš-ši‘ra aš-šamiyah, "the Syrian sign" (the other sign being Sirius; "Syria" is supposedly a reference to its northern location relative to Sirius); Elgomaisa. derives from الغميصاء al-ghumaisa’ "the bleary-eyed (woman)", in contrast to العبور "the teary-eyed (woman)", which is Sirius. (See Gomeisa.) At the same time this name is synonymous with the Turkish name "Rumeysa", and it is a commonly used name in Turkey. The modern Arabic name for Procyon is غموص ghumūṣ. It is known as 南河三 (Mandarin nánhésān, the "Third Star in the South of the River") in Chinese, and it is part of the Vermilion Bird.
The Hawaiians saw Procyon as part of an asterism Ke ka o Makali'i ("the canoe bailer of Makali'i") that helped them navigate at sea. Called Puana "blossom", it formed this asterism with Capella, Sirius, Castor, and Pollux.[36] In Tahitian lore, Procyon was one of the pillars propping up the sky, known as Anâ-tahu'a-vahine-o-toa-te-manava ("star-the-priestess-of-brave-heart"), the pillar for elocution.[37] The Maori knew the star as Puangahori.[38]
Procyon appears on the flag of Brazil, symbolising the state of Amazonas.[39] The Kalapalo people of Mato Grosso state in Brazil called Procyon and Canopus Kofongo "Duck", with Castor and Pollux representing his hands. The asterism's appearance signified the coming of the rainy season and increase in food staple manioc, used at feasts to feed guests.[40]
Known as Sikuliarsiujuittuq to the Inuit, Procyon was quite significant in their astronomy and mythology. Its eponymous name means "the one who never goes onto the newly formed sea-ice", and refers to a man who stole food from his village's hunters because he was too obese to hunt on ice. He was killed by the other hunters who convinced him to go on the sea ice. Procyon received this designation because it typically appears red (though sometimes slightly greenish) as it rises during the Arctic winter; this red color was associated with Sikuliarsiujuittuq's bloody end.[41]





The text is in the public domain.

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Topics/astronomy/_Texts/secondary/ALLSTA/Canis_Minor*.html
The Dog's-precursor, too, shines bright beneath the Twins.
Brown's Aratos.

Canis Minor, the Lesser Dog,

is der Kleine Hund of the Germans; le Petit Chien of the French; and il Cane Minore of the Italians; Proctor, ignoring La Lande, strangely altered it to Felis.
It was not known to the Greeks by any comparative title, but was always προκύων, as rising before his companion Dog, which Latin classic writers transliterated Procyon, and those of late Middle Ages as Prochion and Procion. Cicero and others translated this into Antecanis, — sometimes Anticanis, — Antecedens CanisAntecursorPraecanisProcanis, and Procynis; or changed to plain Canis. To this last from the time of Vitruvius, perhaps before him, the Romans added various adjectives; septentrionalis, from its more northerly position than that of Canis Major; minorminusculus, and parvus, in reference to its inferior brightness; primus, as rising p132first; and sinister, as on the left hand, in distinction from the Canis dexter on the right (referring to Canis Major). Lucan described both of the Dogs as semi deosque Canes.
It was also Catellus and Catulus, the Puppy.
Horace wrote of it,
Jam Procyon furit,
which Mr. Gladstone rendered,
The heavens are hot with Procyon's ray,
as though it were the Canicula, and he was followed by others in this; indeed, Pliny began the dog days with its heliacal rising on the 19th of July, and strangely said that the Romans had no other name for it.
With mythologists it was Actaeon's dog, or one of Diana's, or the Egyptian Anubis; but popularly Orion's 2nd Hound, often called Canis Orionis, and thus confounded as in other ways with the Sirian asterism. Hyginus [Fab. 130] had Icarium Astrum, referring to the dog Maera; Caesius, Erigonius and Canis virgineus of the same story, but identified by Ovid with Canis Major; and Firmicus, Argion,a that perhaps was for Ulixes' dog Ἄργος. It also was considered as representing Helen's favorite, lost in the Euripus, that she prayed Jove might live again in the sky.
It shared its companion's much mixed, degenerate nomenclature, as in the 1515 Almagest's "Antecedens Canis et est Alsehere AscemieAlgameisa"; while the industrious Bayer as usual had some strange names for it. Among these are Fovea, a Pit, that Caesius commented much upon, but little to our enlightenment; and Συκάμινος, or Morus, the Sycamine tree, the equivalent of one of its Arabic titles. His Aschemie andAschere, as well as Chilmead's Alsahare alsemalija, and mongrel words from the foregoing Almagest, etc., can all be detected in their originalAl Shiʽrā al Shāmiyyah, the Bright Star of Syria, thus named because it disappeared from the Arabs' view at its setting beyond that country.
We also find Al Jummaizā, their Sycamine, although some say that this should be Al Ghumaiṣāʽ, the Dim, Watery-eyed, or Weeping One; either from the fact that her light was dimmer than that of her sister Al Shiʽrā, or from the fable connected with Suhail and his marriage to Al Jauzah and subsequent flight, followed by Al Shiʽrā below the Milky Way, where she remained, the other sister, Al Ghumaiṣāʽ, being left in tears in her accustomed place, or it may be from a recollection of the Euphratean title for Procyon, — the Water-dog. Bayer wrote the word Algomeiza; Riccioli, Algomisa and Algomiza; and others; AlgomeysaAlgomysoAlchamizo, etc. Thus the Two Dog-stars were the Arabs' Al Aliawāt al Suhail, the Sisters p133of Canopus. Still another derivation of the name is from Al Ghamūs, the Puppy; but this probably was a later idea from the Romans.
Also borrowing from them, the Arabians called it Al Kalb al Asghar, the Lesser Dog, — Chilmead's Alcheleb Alasgar, Riccioli's Kelbelazguar, — and Al Kalb al Mutaḳaddim, the Preceding Dog.
In Canis Minor lay a part of Al Dhirāʽ al Asad al Maḳbuḍah, the Contracted Fore Arm, or Paw, of the early Lion; the other, the Extended Paw, running up into the heads of Gemini.
Like its greater neighbor, Procyon foretold wealth and renown, and in all astrology has been much regarded. Leonard Digges1 wrote in hisPrognostication Everlasting of Right Good Effect, an almanac for 1553, —
Who learned in matters astronomical, noteth not the great effects at the rising of the starre called the Litel Dogge.
Caesius made it the Dog of Tobias, in the Apocrypha, that Novidius had claimed for Canis Major; but Julius Schiller imagined it the Paschal Lamb.
Who traced out the original outlines of Canis Minor, and what these outlines were, is uncertain, for the constellation with Ptolemy contained but two recorded stars, and no ἀμόρφωτοι; and even now Argelander's map shows only 15, although Heis has 37, and Gould 51.
Canis Minor lies to the southeast from the feet of Gemini, its western border over the edge of the Milky Way, and is separated by Monoceros from Canis Major and Argo.

α, Binary, 0.4, and 13, yellowish white and yellow.

Procyon, varied by Procion and Prochion, — Προκύων in the original, — has been the name for this from the earliest Greek records, distinctly mentioned by Aratos and Ptolemy, and so known by all the Latins, with the equivalent Antecanis.
Ulug Beg designated it as Al Shiʽrā al Shāmiyyah, shortened to Al Shāmiyyah; Chrysococca transcribing this into his Low Greek Σιαὴρ Σιαμὴ, and Riccioli into Siair Siami; all of these agreeing with its occasional English title the Northern Sirius. The Alfonsine Tables of 1521 quote it asAschereAschemie et Algomeysa; those of 1545, as prochion & Algomeyla.
It thus has many of its constellation's names; in fact, being the magna pars of it, probably itself bore them before the constellation was formed.
p134Jacob Bryant insisted that its title came to Greece from the Egyptian Pur Cahen.
Euphratean scholars identify it with the Kakkab PaldaraPallika, or Palura of the cylinders, the Star of the Crossing of the Water-dog, a title evidently given with some reference to the River of Heaven, the adjacent Milky Way; and Hommel says that it was the Kak-shisha which the majority of scholars apply to Sirius.
Dupuis said that in Hindu fables it was Singe Hanuant; and Edkins that it, or Sirius, was the Persian Vanand.
Reeves' Chinese list gives it as Nan Ho, the Southern River, in which β and η were included.
With the natives of the Hervey Islands it was their goddess Vena.
In astrology, like its constellation, it portended wealth, fame, and good fortune. Procyon culminates on the 24th of February.
Elkin determined its parallax as 0ʺ.341, making its distance from our system about 9½ light years; and, according to Vogel, it is approaching us at a speed of six miles a second. Gould thinks it slightly variable.
Its spectrum is on the border between Solar and Sirian.
It is attended by several minute companions that have long been known; but in November, 1896, Schaeberle of the Lick Observatory discovered a 13th‑magnitude yellowish companion, about 4ʺ.6 away, at a position angle of 318°.8, that may be the one predicted by Bessel in 1844 as explaining its peculiar motion, — a motion resembling that of Sirius, which astronomers had found to be moving in an oval orbit entirely unexplained until the discovery of its companion by Alvan G. Clark in 1862. Barnard, at the Yerkes Observatory in 1898, makes the close companion of Procyon 4ʺ.83 away, at a position angle of 326°.
The period of revolution of this most magnificent system is about forty years, in an orbit slightly greater than that of Uranus, the combined mass being about six times that of our sun and earth, and the mass of the companion equaling that of our sun. Its light is three times greater.

β, 3.5, white.

Gomeisa is from the Ghumaisāʽ of the constellation, changed in the Alfonsine Tables to Algomeyla, and by Burritt to Gomelza.
Occasionally it has been Al Gamus, from another of the Arabians' titles for the whole; and Al Murzim, identical with the name of β Canis Majoris, and for a similar reason, — as if announcing the rising of the brightest star p135of the figure. The Arabs utilized this, with Procyon, to mark the terminal points of their short Cubit, or Ell, Al Dhirāʽ, their long Cubit being line between Castor and Pollux of Gemini. This same word appears in the title of one of the moon stations in that constellation.
β has some close companions of the 10th and 12th magnitudes.
ζθο, and π were the Chinese Shwuy Wei, a Place of Water, a designation that may have been given them from their nearness to the River of Heaven, the Galaxy.

The Author's Note:

1 It was this Digges who, nearly fifty years before Galileo, wrote of the telescope as though it were an instrument with which he was familiar, — perhaps from Roger Bacon's writings of 350 years before him.

Thayer's Note:


a No form of Argion is to be found in the Mathesis.



Os desenhos formados pelas estrelas 
- as constelações -
são como janelas que se abrem para a infinitude do universo 
e que possibilitam nossa mente
 a ir percebendo que existe mais, bem mais, 
entre o céu e a terra...; 
bem como percebendo que o caos, 
vagarosamente, 
vai se tornando Cosmos
 e sendo por nossa mente conscientizado.  

Quer dizer, 
nossa mente é tão infinita quanto infinito é o Cosmos.

COM UM ABRAÇO ESTRELADO,
Janine Milward