The Dog Days and Why

Tuesday, August 09, 2005




I used to love summer. The beach instead of school. Saturdays all week long.



But as an adult, summer isn't so hot. Well, actually it is, and that's the problem. I still love the longer, sunny days, but not the heat and the way it drains your energy. Yesterday I passed out from probably the heat (or something disasterous I don't want to think about).



Most people are familiar with the term "dog days of summer." We're there now, between July and early September when the heat and humidity is doing it's best to sap our will to move, to do more than sit indoors in the AC.



In ancient times, when everyone from astronomers to the average citizen looked to the stars more often than we do now, they drew pictures in the sky by connecting the stars. They saw images such as bears, bulls, crabs, and even some dogs. Like Pleades, the Seven Sisters for example. How the heck did they find that? It so happens that the brightest star in Canis Major, which means "the big dog,"is Sirius. In the summer, Sirus rises and sets with the sun. During late July, our ancestors believed that since Sirus was so bright, the heat added to the heat of the sun, creating the hot weather we call “dog days." After the dog star, of course, and generally speaking, the "dog days" today occur during the period between early July to mid August. The heat of these summer days is not due to the brightness of Sirus, but is due to the tilt of the Earth.



So what it comes down to, is it's too damn hot out.