Dog Days

I was just rereading last months newsletter and realized Dave's question about the origin of "The Dog Days of Summer." I know its not technically Alfa, but since it was a question posed in the newsletter here is the "technical" answer.

The brightest star in the night sky (in the Northern Hemisphere during most of the year) is Sirius, or the Dog Star. In the summer, Sirius, rises and sets with the sun. During late July Sirius is in conjunction with the sun, and the ancients believed that its heat added to the heat of the sun, creating a stretch of hot and sultry weather. They named this period of time, from 20 days before the conjunction to 20 days after, “dog days” after the dog star.

Well, there you have it. So the USAF's investment of half-a-million dollars sending me to Nav School to learn all about the stars has finally paid off.