nature, Photography

Summer Dog Days

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Although it’s raining here today – a huge low has moved over much of British Columbia, bringing with it the rain needed to dowse some forest fires – we have entered the “dog days of summer.”

The “dog days” are so-called after the star Sirius, which is also referred to as the “dog star.” Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, becomes visible above the eastern horizon during the pre-dawn hours in August.

During ancient times, the August arrival of Sirius was associated with heat, drought, thunderstorms, humidity, illness and even bad luck.

So, why is it called the “dog star?” Well, that’s because it’s the brightest star of Canis Major, the “great dog” constellation. In ancient times, Canis Major was thought to be the pet of the constellation Orion because like a loyal and faithful dog, it followed Orion across the sky.

All that history of star-gazing the constellations has come down to us today through the simple phrase “dog days of summer” and of course, through the old symbol of Sirius radio, a flop-eared dog with a star as its eye.

Happy Saturday.

45 thoughts on “Summer Dog Days”

  3. Glad you are getting some rain Lynette. Hope the recent showers help dampen the fires. Here, its been like the duck days of summer. After temps of 27C on Monday and Tuesday, rain and cool move in with lows down to 8C and highs of 15C. A change is a comin’. Enjoy your Saturday. Allan

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    1. Thanks, Allan. That big fire near Port Alberni got a good dowsing as did some smaller fires up the coast, so this system was a good thing. Wow! That’s quite a temperature differential although I do remember that about the Edmonton area from years ago when I was flying from City Centre airport. Mid-August often showed cooling. Cheers.

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    1. Thank you very much, Neil, and thanks also for the link. Yes, there have been many all over the country this summer, usually caused by lightening. My region has thankfully escaped almost completely unscathed this summer after about a decade of periodically smokey summers. To give you an idea of how bad it was, the national Ironman triathlon had been held here for more than 40 years but was moved in 2023 because the air quality had become so unreliable.

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    1. You’re very welcome, Belinda. 😊 We use and understand many famous phrases but often have lost the connection to their ancient pasts. I’ve enjoyed looking up these sorts of things since I was a kid. Cheers.

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    1. I forgot about Sirius Black! Good catch. That’s an excellent example of how Rowling worked many of those ancient references or metaphors into her writing.

      Sirius Radio is a subscription satellite radio service available in North America since the 90s. Yes, I’ve always liked their logo too although they recently changed it.

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    1. Apart from the fires, summer has been very unusual and unpredictable all over this country this year, it seems. I hope you get some sunny warm weather before autumn starts arriving!

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    1. Thank you very much for your lovely comments, Tricia. 😊 I’ve enjoyed looking up things like that ever since I was a kid (I was a bit of nerd growing up even though I was pretty wild as a teenager). Cheers.

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  14. Sirius is a bright and beautiful star and I love to look at it. Nearby, Sirius, is Sirius B, a white dwarf star and I tried to see it with my telescope, but I had not luck. I guess the light pollution in Dallas is too bad. But I will try again but this time I will visit a dark spot in Oklahoma.

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      1. Thank you so much Lynette. The dark spot in Oklahoma is a place owned by Texas Astronomical Society of which I am a member. It is very dark but great for star watching when the sky is clear.

        I can add that you cannot see Sirius B with the naked eye. You need a decent amateur telescope and then you zoom is so that Sirius is not in view. Sirius is 10,000 brighter than Sirius B so you don’t want its light disturbing your view.

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        1. You’re very welcome, Thomas. Yes, I did know that you need a telescope to see Sirius B.

          It’s fantastic that you have the opportunity as an astronomical member to see the stars from Oklahoma. I’m assuming that the “dark spot” is a sky preserve?

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          1. Yes I believe it is a sky-preserve. It is located far away from any cities and towns and the nearby country road has no lights and the nearby farms look pretty dark. It is like a field surrounded by forest and you are not allowed to drive into the area with your lights on, and no flashlights, or lights from phones. My wife thinks the place is creepy, especially when you hear noises but can’t see anything, However, the night sky and the Milky Way is fabolous. It’s called the Atoka darkspot.

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    1. You’re very welcome, Linda. Since I was a kid I’ve enjoyed poking around to get explanations for what seemed to me at the time (this was pre-internet) as very silly or nonsensical sayings. It’s amazing how many commonly used metaphors come from Shakespeare but so many others have incredibly ancient origins. Cheers.

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