We determined the spatial structure of the scattered concentration of galaxies in the Canes Venatici constellation .
We redefined the distances for 30 galaxies of this region using the deep images from the Hubble Space Telescope archive with the WFPC2 and ACS cameras .
We carried out a high-precision stellar photometry of the resolved stars in these galaxies , and determined the photometric distances by the tip of the red giant branch ( TRGB ) using an advanced technique and modern calibrations .
High accuracy of the results allows us to distinguish the zone of chaotic motions around the center of the system .
A group of galaxies around M 94 is characterized by the median velocity V _ { LG } = 287 km/s , distance D = 4.28 Mpc , internal velocity dispersion \sigma = 51 km/s and total luminosity L _ { B } = 1.61 \times 10 ^ { 10 } L _ { \odot } .
The projection mass of the system amounts to M _ { p } = 2.56 \times 10 ^ { 12 } M _ { \odot } , which corresponds to the mass–luminosity ratio of ( M / L ) _ { p } = 159 ( M / L ) _ { \odot } .
The estimate of the mass–luminosity ratio is significantly higher than the typical ratio M / L _ { B } \sim 30 for the nearby groups of galaxies .
The CVn I cloud of galaxies contains 4–5 times less luminous matter compared with the well-known nearby groups , like the Local Group , M 81 and Centaurus A .
The central galaxy M 94 is at least 1 { { } ^ { m } } fainter than any other central galaxy of these groups .
However , the concentration of galaxies in the Canes Venatici may have a comparable total mass .