Sirius

(sir'e-us,) CANICULA, or DOG-STAR. [From Gr. sei rios, scorching.) (Ast.) The star a in the constellation Canis Major, and the brightest star in the heavens. Its distance from us is calculated to be 130,000 millions of miles. This is one of the earliest named stars in the heavens, and is supposed by some to be the nearest to the earth. The Egyptians called this star So this, and at one time its " heliacal rising " was a sure forerunner of the rising of the Nile; while among the Romans it was considered as a star of evil omen, whose appear-Sixth, ance above the horizon coincided with (or even caused) the unhealthy and oppre ive heats of summer. Hence the origin of the various superstitions regarding the Dog Days (q. v.), many of which are still current. [s. 829]