Canis Major
Canis Major is a prominent constellation because of its many bright stars. These include Sirius (Alpha Canis Majoris), the brightest star in the night sky, as well as three other stars above magnitude 2.0. Furthermore, two other stars are thought to have previously outshone all others in the night sky—Adhara (Epsilon Canis Majoris) shone at -3.99 around 4.7 million years ago, and Mirzam (Beta Canis Majoris) peaked at −3.65 around 4.42 million years ago. Another, NR Canis Majoris, will be brightest at magnitude −0.88 in about 2.87 million years' time.
Gamma Draconis
It is by far the brightest star having a zenith above a point near London (and thus Leipzig, Düsseldorf, Astana and Calgary) which occurs near midnight (24:00h) at London which led to its vaunting in these places as the "zenith star" or "London zenith star". From other locations it has a nearby bright, well-known star in Lyra in night sky; finding Vega, Eltanin is the red star just north-northwest of it.