2. In Hevelius' overview of the region we can see where he is, the Little Dog, just below the tail of Cancer and rising somewhat later than Canis Major (on the opposite side of the River):
Procyon (α Canis Minoris) is
not at the nose of the dog, maybe because the constellation
is so small that it practically coincides with Procyon.
All figures of Hevelius are 'heading' towards the left (excepting Cancer). When the
right ascension is increasing towards right it has this
effect. But according to Bode the figures look in the other
direction:
Both dogs are quite realistically drawn, with the right front paw foremost. Yet, Bode has the right back paw as the last of the four. According to Hevelius the last paw is the left.
Procyon means 'before the
dog' (referring to Sirius):
"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." (Allen)
But today Sirius is rising earlier
than Procyon. This we can observe not only in Hevelius
but in all current maps:
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