- The Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius formed this constellation in 1687 from a scattering of faint stars beneath the tail of Ursa Major. Canes Venatici represents a pair of greyhounds held on a lead by Boötes, snapping at the heels of the Great Bear. Hevelius named the dogs Asterion (‘Starry’) and Chara (‘Dear’), identifying them as male and female respectively…