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canis Minor (kā´-nis Mī´-nor)—the Lesser Dog. (face West.)

Location.—Procyon, the Little Dog Star, lies about 23° south of Pollux, in Gemini. A line drawn from Nath, in Auriga, to Alhena, in Gemini, and prolonged about 18°, reaches Procyon.

Procyon is equidistant from Betelgeuze in Orion, and Sirius in Canis Major, and forms with them an equilateral triangle. It forms a large right-angled triangle with Pollux and Betelgeuze.

The light from Procyon is golden yellow. Four degrees northwest of it is the third-magnitude star Gomeisa. The glass shows two small stars forming a right-angled triangle with it.

Procyon was distinctly mentioned by Ptolemy. It rises in this latitude a little north of east about half an hour before Sirius, the Dog Star, hence it was called Procyon from two Greek words which signify "before the dog."

Procyon is one of our nearest neighbors in space, at a distance of ten light years, and is attended by a very faint companion which is only visible in the largest telescopes.

CANIS MINOR

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