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Ursa Major and Ursa Minor

(Encyclopedia)Ursa Major ûrˈsə [key] and Ursa Minor [Lat.,=the great bear; the little bear], two conspicuous northern constellations. Known to many peoples from ancient times, these constellations have had vario...

Adhara

(Encyclopedia)Adhara ădhârˈə [key], bright star in the constellation Canis Major; Bayer designation ε Canis Majoris; 1992 position R.A. 6h58.3m, Dec. −31°54′. A bluish-white giant (spectral class B2 II) w...

jackal

(Encyclopedia)jackal, name for several Old World carnivorous mammals of the genus Canis, which also includes the dog and the wolf. Jackals are found in Africa and S Asia, where they inhabit deserts, grasslands, and...

Sirius

(Encyclopedia)Sirius sĭrˈēəs [key], or Dog Star, brightest star in the sky. It is located in the constellation Canis Major (1992 position R.A. 6h44.8m, Dec. −16°42′); its Bayer designation is Alpha Canis M...

wolf

(Encyclopedia)wolf, carnivorous mammal of the genus Canis in the dog family. Once distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, wild wolves are now confined to the wilder parts of a reduced range. Three wolf sp...

dingo

(Encyclopedia)dingo dĭngˈgō [key], wild dog (Canis lupus dingo) of Australia, believed to have been introduced thousands of years ago from SE Asia by the aboriginal settlers of that continent; currently regarded...

Little Dipper

(Encyclopedia)Little Dipper, familiar configuration of stars in the constellation Ursa Minor (see Ursa Major and Ursa Minor). ...

dogfish

(Encyclopedia)dogfish, name for a number of small sharks of several different families. Best known are the spiny dogfishes (family Squalidae) and the smooth dogfishes (family Triakidae). Spiny dogfishes have two sp...

misdemeanor

(Encyclopedia)misdemeanor, in law, a minor crime, in contrast to a felony. At common law a misdemeanor was a crime other than treason or a felony. Although it might be a grave offense, it did not affect the feudal ...

Mycale

(Encyclopedia)Mycale mĭkˈəlē [key], promontory, W Asia Minor, opposite Samós island. The center of the Ionian League was there, in the temple of Poseidon. In 479 b.c. the Greeks destroyed the Persian fleet at ...