Re: Where can I find who discovered Canis Major?

Hello Whitney.

I have good news and bad news.

First the bad news; I don't think that you are going to be able to answer the question about who first discovered Canis Major. I think that the best you can come up with is that it has been known since ancient times. Sirius is the brightest star in Canis Major and is the brightest star that can be seen from earth. It has an important place in the mythologies of most ancient cultures.

Now for the good news (I hope), there is a lot of information on the web about Canis Major and Sirius. I have included several links here for you to look at.

You can also just do a search on any search engine for Canis Major and get a lot of information. Try to stay with sites that are maintained by an astronomical society or educational institution. Good luck.

http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/constellations.html
http://einstein.stcloudstate.edu/Dome/constellns/cma.html
http://www.corvus.com/con-page/winter/cma-01.htm
http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky/cma/
http://www.coldwater.k12.mi.us/lms/planetarium/myth/canismajor.html