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Far from any lights, the sky fills with stars. Drawn from real star positions; bigger dots are brighter stars. See it from a city or the suburbs in the app.

✨ Constellation

Canis Major

The Great Dog, following Orion the hunter, with Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky.

Name means: The Great Dog
Best seen: February evenings
Where to see it: The southern half of Earth, and low in the sky from much of the northern half
Brightest star: Sirius
Stars in the pattern: 11

Did you know?

Sirius is called the Dog Star after this constellation.
Orion’s Belt points the way to Sirius.

In this part of the sky

Orion The Hunter, with three bright stars in a row for his belt.

More NASA photos of Canis MajorStraight from NASA’s image library, in the app

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All of night sky

Orion The Hunter, with three bright stars in a row for his belt. Ursa Major The Great Bear, home of the Big Dipper. Ursa Minor The Little Bear, with Polaris at the tip of its tail. Cassiopeia A bright W of five stars, named after a boastful queen. Scorpius The Scorpion, with red Antares at its heart. Leo The Lion, whose head is a backwards question mark of stars.

Facts: Star patterns: d3-celestial (IAU figures, Hipparcos star data). Stories: traditional Greek and Roman myths. Open Canis Major in the app.