Canis Major (The Big Dog) and Canis Minor (The Little Dog)
Look
for Orion's three belt stars and gaze left to find Sirius, the brightest
star in the constellation Canis Major ( the Big Dog).
It is also the brightest star in the sky. This group of stars never
gets very high in our northern skies and is only visible in the winter.
Above Canis Major is Canis Minor (the Little Dog) with another bright
star Procyon. In mythology these two dogs are associated with Orion the
great hunter.
A "Sirius" star.
The glittery star Sirius is the brightest star visible from Canada.
It is only 8 light years away which makes it one of the closest stars to
us besides the Sun. Sirius is twice as big as our Sun and has 25 times
the energy output and heat.
