Editing Canis Major (section)

== Characteristics ==
Canis Major is a constellation in the [[Southern Hemisphere]]'s summer (or northern hemisphere's winter) sky, bordered by [[Monoceros]] (which lies between it and Canis Minor) to the north, Puppis to the east and southeast, [[Columba (constellation)|Columba]] to the southwest, and Lepus to the west. The three-letter abbreviation for the constellation, as adopted by the [[International Astronomical Union]] in 1922, is "CMa".<ref name="pa30_469">{{cite journal | last=Russell | first=Henry Norris | title=The New International Symbols for the Constellations | journal=[[Popular Astronomy (US magazine)|Popular Astronomy]] | volume=30 | pages=469–71 | bibcode=1922PA.....30..469R | year=1922}}</ref> The official constellation boundaries, as set by Belgian astronomer [[Eugène Delporte]] in 1930, are defined by a quadrilateral; in the [[equatorial coordinate system]], the [[right ascension]] coordinates of these borders lie between {{RA|06|12.5}} and {{RA|07|27.5}}, while the [[declination]] coordinates are between −11.03° and −33.25°.<ref name="boundary">{{cite journal | title=Canis Major, Constellation Boundary | journal=The Constellations | url=https://www.iau.org/public/themes/constellations/#cma | access-date=15 November 2012}}</ref> Covering 380 square degrees or 0.921% of the sky, it ranks 43rd of the 88 currently-recognized constellations in size.<ref name=bagnall>{{cite book |last=Bagnall |first=Philip M. |title=The Star Atlas Companion: What You Need to Know about the Constellations |publisher=Springer  |location=New York, New York |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-4614-0830-7 |pages=99–106|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KcIg02TKW6QC&pg=PA105}}</ref>