JACKSON, Wyo. — Welcome, “dog days” of summer!
The dog days of summer are the 20 days before and 20 days after the alignment of Sirius, the dog star, with the sun, which fall this year from July 3 through Aug. 11.
Sirius is a part of the constellation Canis Major, “the Greater Dog,” and is considered to be the brightest star in the sky (apart from the sun), according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac. In the summer, Sirius rises and sets with the sun.
“In ancient Greece and Rome, the Dog Days were believed to be a time of drought, bad luck and unrest, when dogs and men alike would be driven mad by the extreme heat,” per the almanac.
While the ancient theories surrounding the star and its impact on weather are not rooted in science — the heat of summer is related to the tilt of the Earth — the phrase is popular in pop culture and referenced in literature, music, movies and advertising campaigns (queue Florence + The Machine’s “Dog Days Are Over”).
“On July 23, specifically, [Sirius] is in conjunction with the sun, and because the star is so bright, the ancient Romans believed it actually gave off heat and added to the sun’s warmth, accounting for the long stretch of sultry weather,” states the almanac. They referred to this time as “dies caniculares,” or “dog days.”
For the Egyptians, the rising of Sirius, known to them as Sothis, coincided with the Nile River’s flood season. The star was used as a “watchdog” ahead of the season, says the almanac.
Stay cool out there!
