Generalities: it is a small constellation of the northern sky with only a bright star, but which boasts the presence of interesting objects of the deep sky . The transit at  midnight takes place at the  end of May.

Origins and mythology: this constellation was introduced by Hevelius in 1690. It represents the hunting dogs Asterione and Cara, held back by the shepherd Boote so that they don’t pursue the two she-bears. The constellation of the Hunting Dogs is in fact between Boote and the Big Bear. According to the Arabic tradition this constellation represents a flock of greyhounds chasing the she-bears. The star alpha is called Cor Caroli (Charles' heart) and owes its name to Edmund Halley, who devoted it to  king Charles I. The physic Scarborough maintained in fact that  he had seen that star shining more intensely the evening in which  Charles I’s child avenged his father who had been murdered by Cromwell, and that the shining of the star represented the throbbing heart of the murdered king.

Stars: Cor Caroli (alpha CVn) is the only star of this constellation with magnitude inferior to 4. It is  of white color and is 65 light-years far. It is  a  double star, easily visible even with modest tools.
 

Table of stars brighter than magnitude 3.5
 

Star	Proper name	Magnitude	Spectrum	Colour	Distance (light-years)	Notes
Alpha	Cor Caroli	2.90	A0p	white	65	Visual double star

Other objects: in this constellation, as already said, several interesting objects are present. The most important is surely  M51, the beautiful " Vortex Galaxy", with the small companion NGC 5195. Other interesting objects are M3, a very beautiful and bright globular cluster, M63 and M94, two galaxies of more modest brightness
 

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