Kids: The "dog days of summer"
The "dog days of summer" are not named after our furry friends, but after the Dog Star - the brightest star in the sky - Sirius in the constellation Canis Major, the Greater Dog. Photo: Flickr user thejesse
You might have heard the hottest days of summer described as the “dog days of summer”…but where did this term come from?
The idea of ‘dog days’ isn’t new – and its origin isn’t strictly earthly. The dog days are named for the Dog Star – the brightest star in the sky – Sirius in the constellation Canis Major, the Greater Dog.
The name Sirius seems to come from an ancient Greek word for “scorching” or “sparkling.” Sirius is the brightest star visible from either of Earth’s hemispheres. It’s prominent in the evening during the northern hemisphere winter. But its appearance in the summer has also been noticed for many thousands of years. Each northern hemisphere summer, after being behind the sun for awhile, the Dog Star reappears before dawn.
Early Greeks and Romans blamed Sirius for the heat in July and August. This is the time of year when Sirius comes up either with the sun or shortly before the sun each day. It travels across the sky with the sun during the daylight hours. The ancients believed that the double whammy of the sun and Sirius actually caused the hot weather.
Now we understand the heat of summer very differently – but the legend of the dog days has survived – to describe the hottest part of the year in the northern hemisphere.
