As most parents can tell you, coming up with names isn’t easy. It sometimes takes a while to settle on something that sounds just right. It wasn’t easy for the people who named the constellations, either. Some of the names sound like they just gave up. They picked a region of the sky with few stars, gave it the name of a nearby bright constellation, then added the word “minor.”

All three of these minor constellations are in good view at dawn: Ursa Minor, Canis Minor, and Leo Minor.

The most famous of the bunch is Ursa Minor – the little bear. Seven of its stars form the Little Dipper, which is in the north – directly below the Big Dipper, which is part of Ursa Major. The constellation is especially well known because its brightest star is Polaris, the Pole Star. It’s at the tip of the little bear’s tail.

Canis Minor is the little dog. It’s about half way up the sky in the west-southwest. It has only a couple of bright stars. The brightest is Procyon – a name that means “before the dog.” That’s because the little dog leads the big dog across the sky. In ancient Greece, in fact, the constellation was known as Procyon.

Finally, Leo Minor is high overhead. It’s the little lion, standing on the shoulder of Leo. That region of the sky wasn’t depicted as a separate constellation until 1687. Today, though, it’s one of the 88 official constellations – even if it is a “minor” one.

Script by Damond Benningfield