Sirius which is known in astronomy as the “Dog Star” and is the bright star you see in the evening sky in the Canis Major constellation and is why we have the term Dog days of summer when referring to the months of July and August. The Egyptians named the star after their god Osirus who had a head that resembled that of a dog and is now known commonly as the Dog Star. They soon noticed that Sirius was visible in the sky at the same time as the Sun in July which coincided with the annual summer flooding of the Nile and incidentally it was very hot in that region as it is in many others. That is why today we call the hottest months of the summer which are typically July and August the dog days of summer.
myITforum Daily Newsletter Daily Newsletter May 1, 2007 The myITforum.com newsletter is delivered Monday