Canis Major and Canis Minor, Orion's Sky Dogs

Sirius A and B

The winter southern sky is ablaze with the brightest stars in the sky.  8 of the top 20 brightest stars can be found there awaiting your wishes.  The brightest of them all is Sirius, the nose of Orion's bigger hunting dog, Canis Major.  Sirius is about 23 times brighter than the North Star and scorches the winter sky with a stark white light.  Sirius definitely isn't the biggest star up there - it's just one of the closest.  At about 8.6 light years away, it's really two stars - a faint white dwarf star called Sirius B orbits the main star every 50 years.


Creepy Lookin' Dogs

Up higher and not quite as bright is the little dog star, Procyon.  Procyon weighs in as the eighth brightest star in the sky becuase it's a close one too.  In fact Procyon bears a lot of similarities with Sirius.  At about 11 light years away, this white sub-giant star has a white dwarf star orbiting it as well.




Canis Major, is easy to find.  Use Orion’s belt as a guide.  Connect the dots of the three belt stars and continue the line down and to the left and you will run smack into Sirius.  With a little imagination you can use the semi-bright stars around Sirius to picture the big dog, but with the little dog… it only has two stars in it.  That’s right, it’s a real hot dog! 
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Sirius Mysteries



No Dog Days Yet

Sirius the Dog Star is the brightest star in the nighttime sky. It has fascinated people around the globe and plays a prominent role in cultural myths. To the Egyptians it was worshipped as the "King of Suns," who based their calendars on its movements. The rising and setting of Sirius told the Egyptians when to plant, when to harvest, and when the Nile typically flooded. The phrase "Dog Days of Summer" originates in the ancient Egypt. During the hottest part of summer, the Sun stands high in the sky. And even though they could not see it, the Egyptians knew that Sirius was also nearby the Sun during the day. They claimed that the presence and brilliance of Sirius added to the intensity of the Sun's heat.

In Hindu mythology, Sirius was a hunter. This hunter was the father of 27 daughters represented in the 27 phases of the moon.

The Finnish poet Topelius wrote a poem hypothesizing that two stars fell in love and became one - he turned out to be correct Sirius has a small white dwarf companion circling it, Sirius B
which orbits Sirius every 50 years.

Two controversies surround Sirius. Ancient Greek texts claim that Sirius is a bright red star. In actuality Sirius is shimmering white. Did Sirius change colors over the years? Did the Greeks get this wrong? Was Sirius lower in the sky and therefore appear more red? We may never know.

The second controversy involves the mythology that the Dogon people of West Africa had about Sirius. According to French anthropologists who first met this tribe, the Dogon had a special reverence for Sirius and developed many unique rituals around this bright star. The Dogon legends say that aliens from Sirius visited their people 5,000 years ago. They perform a celebration every 50 years in honor of their alien visitors. Why every 50 years? The aliens told them that where they come from they have 2 suns, a smaller one that orbits the larger one every 50 years. It turns out that modern astronomy proved the existence of a smaller companion star (Sirius B) that orbits the main star (Sirius A) every... wait for it... 50 years! So the question still remains, were the Dogon really visited by aliens from Sirius or were they just given inside information from aliens from France?

Look for Sirius in the southwestern sky this March and April.

Sirius Aliens?

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Canis Major, the Big Dog

Orion's hunting companion in the sky, Canis Major or the Big Dog, follows along to the left of the great hunter. Canis Major's brightest star, Sirius, is also the brightest star we can see from Earth. The constellation is extremely easy to find. If you connect the dots of the three stars in Orion's belt and continue that line to the left, you will run into Sirius, the Dog Star.

When Orion was placed up in the sky only to be trampled by the Bull each night (with Seven Sister's on its back), he asked the gods if he could bring his favorite hunting dogs with him to fend off the bull. Unfortunately for him, the dogs don't seem to be helping. The Little Dog (Canis Minor) is chasing after a Unicorn (the constellation Monoceros), while the Big Dog is barking after a little bunny rabbit (the constellation Lepus the Hare) at Orion's feet.

Canis Major's others stars include Mirzam, Wezen, Aludra, Adhara, and Furud - all Arabic names. Mirzam is "The Announcer" since it rises before Sirius crests the evening horizon. But I like Wezen which means "Weight". An old Arab legend says that this star seems heavy in that it rises from the horizon with great difficulty.