Sirius , also known as Sirius or Alpha Canis Majoris is the brightest star in the night sky . It is a beautiful white star , with a magnitude of -1.46 and is located at a distance of about 8.6 ( light-years . It is one and a half times greater than the Sun and 22 times more luminous. It has a small companion, a white dwarf star which rotates around it every 50 years, but which is not visible to the naked eye because it has a luminosity of +8.4 Sirius forms together with Betelgeuse and Procyon the so – called Winter Triangle .
How to locate the star Sirius
Summary
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- 1 Location
- 2 Mythology
- 3 Origin of the name
- 4 Sources
Location
Sirius is visible from practically the entire planet, even because of its enormous brightness this star is sometimes visible in broad daylight. It is not visible only above 73º N, several degrees above the Arctic Circle. In the northern hemisphere it is most easily seen in the winter months.
It is the main star of the constellation Canis Majoris, which is why it is also known as The Dog Star and it is easy to identify if we look at Orion and the three stars that make up its belt and draw a line down. Since Orion’s belt marks the Celestial Equator, this means that Sirius is in the southern celestial hemisphere.
Mythology
The star Sirius was very important since ancient times for its brightness and beauty; In ancient Egypt they called it Sothis, it marked the beginning of the year and the beginning of the floods of the Nile , essential for crops. Many Egyptian temples were built so that the light from Sirius illuminated the inner chambers. The Babylonian people from ancient times chose it as the most important star in the sky.
Name’s origin
The name Sirius comes from the Greek and has various designations, such as “brilliant” and “cruel.” The constellation of the Big Dog represents the dog that accompanies the giant hunter Orion. Appearing in the East , Sirius coincides with the hottest months of the year, hence the popular phrase that identifies warm days as “dog days.”