Science Series: Dog Days of Summer
Science of the Dog Days of Summer
Do Dogs Go On Strike?
Where do we get the term “the dog days of summer?”
Does it refer to the hottest days of Summer, when even dogs go on strike due to the heat, refusing to do their job of lying on the floor?
Look to the Skies
Alas, no. The answer is “in our stars” or, rather, in a constellation. Astronomically, the time beginning July 3rd and running through August 11th is associated with the rising — above the eastern horizon around dawn — of the star system Sirius, commonly called the “Dog Star.” I’m serious when I say the Greeks connected this occurrence with heat, lethargy, thunderstorms, mad dogs, and generally bad luck. Its association with fever could only be remedied with more cowbell.
What’s In A Name?
Sirius, Σείριος in Greek, transliterated to Latin Seirios, means glowing or scorching. We borrow “the puppy days” from the Latin dies caniculares into English.
In astronomy, the star is Alpha Canis Majoris, part of the constellation Canis Major, the “Greater Dog.”
