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The Dog Stars: The hope-filled story of a world changed by global catastrophe

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After the End: Most of the population has died from a super flu. Many of the survivors of that are suffering from a blood disease. Flanking Sirius are Beta and Gamma Canis Majoris. Also called Mirzam or Murzim, Beta is a blue-white Beta Cephei variable star of magnitude 2.0, which varies by a few hundredths of a magnitude over a period of six hours. [34] Mirzam is 500 light-years from Earth, and its traditional name means "the announcer", referring to its position as the "announcer" of Sirius, as it rises a few minutes before Sirius does. [6] Gamma, also known as Muliphein, is a fainter star of magnitude 4.12, in reality a blue-white bright giant of spectral type B8IIe located 441 light-years from earth. [35] Iota Canis Majoris, lying between Sirius and Gamma, is another star that has been classified as a Beta Cephei variable, varying from magnitude 4.36 to 4.40 over a period of 1.92 hours. [36] It is a remote blue-white supergiant star of spectral type B3Ib, around 46,000 times as luminous as the sun and, at 2500 light-years distant, 300 times further away than Sirius. [37]

In Persian mythology and Zoroastrianism, Sirius is seen as Tishtrya and revered as the divinity bringing rain and fertility.van Belle, Gerard T.; Paladini, Claudia; Aringer, Bernhard; Hron, Josef; Ciardi, David (2013). "The PTI Carbon Star Angular Size Survey: Effective Temperatures and Non-sphericity". The Astrophysical Journal. 775 (1): 45. arXiv: 1307.6585. Bibcode: 2013ApJ...775...45V. doi: 10.1088/0004-637X/775/1/45. S2CID 43847096. Sirius A is classified as an Am star because studies of the star’s spectrum have revealed deep metallic absorption lines, suggesting a significant presence of elements heavier than helium, like iron. The star has 316% of the proportion of iron found in the atmosphere of our Sun. The easiest way to locate Sirius in the night sky is by using the stars of the Orion’s Belt as pointers. The three bright belt stars – Alnilam, Alnitak, and Mintaka, point downward to Sirius to the left. Sirius is about 8 times as far from the Orion’s Belt as the belt is wide. Seven star systems have been found to have planets. Nu 2 Canis Majoris is an ageing orange giant of spectral type K1III of apparent magnitude 3.91 located around 64 light-years distant. [76] Around 1.5 times as massive and 11 times as luminous as the Sun, it is orbited over a period of 763 days by a planet 2.6 times as massive as Jupiter. [77] HD 47536 is likewise an ageing orange giant found to have a planetary system—echoing the fate of the Solar System in a few billion years as the Sun ages and becomes a giant. [78] Conversely, HD 45364 is a star 107 light-years distant that is a little smaller and cooler than the Sun, of spectral type G8V, which has two planets discovered in 2008. With orbital periods of 228 and 342 days, the planets have a 3:2 orbital resonance, which helps stabilise the system. [79] HD 47186 is another sunlike star with two planets; the inner— HD 47186 b—takes four days to complete an orbit and has been classified as a Hot Neptune, while the outer— HD 47186 c—has an eccentric 3.7-year period orbit and has a similar mass to Saturn. [80] HD 43197 is a sunlike star around 183 light-years distant that has two planets: a hot Jupiter-size planet with an eccentric orbit. The other planet, HD 43197 c, is another massive Jovian planet with a slightly oblong orbit outside of its habitable zone. [81]

Kunitzsch, Paul; Smart, Tim (2006). A Dictionary of Modern star Names: A Short Guide to 254 Star Names and Their Derivations (2nd rev.ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Sky Pub. p.23. ISBN 978-1-931559-44-7. In a Dogon myth explaining the origin of the human race, humanity was born from the Nommo, a race of amphibians who came to Earth from a planet orbiting Sirius. The Nommo are said to have given humans profound knowledge, including information about Sirius and our own solar system. Location In India, the star is sometimes known as Svana, the dog of Prince Yudhistira, who set out of a long journey to find the kingdom of heaven with his four brothers. The journey was a difficult one and, one by one, the brothers abandoned the search. When Yudhistira reached the gates of heaven, Lord Indra welcomed him, but would not let Svana enter. The prince told him that he himself would not enter if his faithful servant was denied entrance. This is what the Lord wanted to hear, and he then allowed them both through the gates. Leave it to Peter Heller to imagine a postapocalyptic world that contains as much loveliness as it does devastation. His hero, Hig, flies a 1956 Cessna (his dog as copilot) around what was once Colorado, chasing all the same things we chase in these pre-annihilation days: love, friendship, the solace of the natural world, and the chance to perform some small kindness. The Dog Stars is a wholly compelling and deeply engaging debut.”
- Sirius was one of the stars that led Edmond Halley to the discovery of proper motion among the so-called “fixed” stars. In 1718, Halley compared contemporary data to the information provided in Ptolemy’s Almagest and found that the bright stars Aldebaran in Taurus, Arcturus in Boötes and Sirius had moved significantly over the period of 1,800 years. Sirius had progressed 30 arc minutes to the south since Ptolemy’s times.In 1868, Sirius became the first star to have its velocity measured, the beginning of the study of celestial radial velocities. Sir William Huggins examined the spectrum of the star and observed a red shift. He concluded that Sirius was receding from the Solar System at about 40km/s. [39] [40] Compared to the modern value of −5.5km/s, this was an overestimate and had the wrong sign; the minus sign (−) means that it is approaching the Sun. [41] Distance [ edit ]

Szeifert, T.; Hubrig, S.; Schöller, M.; Schütz, O.; Stelzer, B.; Mikulášek, Z. (2010). "The Nature of the Recent Extreme Outburst of the Herbig Be/FU Orionis Binary Z Canis Majoris". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 509: L7. arXiv: 0912.3889. Bibcode: 2010A&A...509L...7S. doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/200913704. S2CID 14928968. Jerzykiewicz, M.; Molenda-Zakowicz, J. (2000). "Empirical Luminosities and Radii of Early-Type Stars after Hipparcos" (PDF). Acta Astronomica. 50: 369–80. Bibcode: 2000AcA....50..369J. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-11-10. Kirshner, Robert P.; Arp, H.C.; Dunlap, J.R. (1976). "Observations of Supernovae – 1975a in NGC 2207 and 1975b in the Perseus Cluster". Astrophysical Journal. 207 (1): 44–52. Bibcode: 1976ApJ...207...44K. doi: 10.1086/154465. Alain, Klotz; E., Conseil; M., Fraser; Joseph, Brimacombe; C., Inserra; N., Walton; N., Blagorodnova; M., Nicholl; S., Benetti; A., Pastorello; S., Valenti; S., Taubenberger; J., Smartt S.; K., Smith; D., Young; M., Sullivan; A., Gal-Yam; O., Yaron (2013). "Supernova 2013ai in NGC 2207 = Psn J06161835-2122329". Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams. 3431: 1. Bibcode: 2013CBET.3431....1K. Canis Majoris – Variable Star". SIMBAD Astronomical Database. Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg . Retrieved 26 February 2014.

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The binary companion was discovered by the German astronomer Friedrich Bessel, who deduced that the star had an unseen companion from the changes in the proper motion of the main component. a b Hamacher, Duane W.; Frew, David J. (2010). "An Aboriginal Australian Record of the Great Eruption of Eta Carinae". Journal of Astronomical History & Heritage. 13 (3): 220–34. arXiv: 1010.4610. Bibcode: 2010JAHH...13..220H. doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1440-2807.2010.03.06. S2CID 118454721. The star is associated with dogs in a number of cultures. Being the brightest star in the Greater Dog constellation, it was classically represented as one of the dogs of Orion, the Hunter. Homer calls the star “Orion’s Dog” in The Iliad. In ancient Greece, there was a belief that the star could make dogs behave abnormally during the summer.

HD 51251 – Star in double system". SIMBAD Astronomical Database. Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg . Retrieved 18 February 2014. Bright stars were important to the ancient Polynesians for navigation of the Pacific Ocean. They also served as latitude markers; the declination of Sirius matches the latitude of the archipelago of Fiji at 17°S and thus passes directly over the islands each sidereal day. [34] Sirius served as the body of a "Great Bird" constellation called Manu, with Canopus as the southern wingtip and Procyon the northern wingtip, which divided the Polynesian night sky into two hemispheres. [35] Just as the appearance of Sirius in the morning sky marked summer in Greece, it marked the onset of winter for the Māori, whose name Takurua described both the star and the season. Its culmination at the winter solstice was marked by celebration in Hawaii, where it was known as Ka'ulua, "Queen of Heaven". Many other Polynesian names have been recorded, including Tau-ua in the Marquesas Islands, Rehua in New Zealand, and Ta'urua-fau-papa "Festivity of original high chiefs" and Ta'urua-e-hiti-i-te-tara-te-feiai "Festivity who rises with prayers and religious ceremonies" in Tahiti. [36] Kinematics [ edit ] Walter Sydney Adams was the first to discover that Sirius B was a white star. He used a 60-inch reflector at Mount Wilson Observatory and, while observing the star’s spectrum, he concluded that it was a whitish star. Astronomers later determined that the star was a white dwarf, only the second one to be discovered.

At the southern limits of the constellation lie Kappa and Lambda Canis Majoris. Although of similar spectra and nearby each other as viewed from Earth, they are unrelated. [26] Kappa is a Gamma Cassiopeiae variable of spectral type B2Vne, [59] which brightened by 50% between 1963 and 1978, from magnitude 3.96 or so to 3.52. [60] It is around 659 light-years distant. [61] Lambda is a blue-white B-type main sequence dwarf with an apparent magnitude of 4.48 located around 423 light-years from Earth. [62] It is 3.7 times as wide as and 5.5 times as massive as the Sun, and shines with 940 times its luminosity. [54] Very Large Telescope image of the surroundings of VY Canis Majoris Decisively strikes at the ever-arching desire to know what makes us human…. Gruff, tormented and inspirational, Heller has the astonishing ability to make you laugh, cringe and feel ridiculously vulnerable throughout the novel…One of the most powerful reads in years.” Wittkowski, M.; Hauschildt, P.H.; Arroyo-Torres, B.; Marcaide, J.M. (2012). "Fundamental Properties and Atmospheric Structure of the Red Supergiant VY CMa based on VLTI/AMBER spectro-interferometry". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 540: L12. arXiv: 1203.5194. Bibcode: 2012A&A...540L..12W. doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/201219126. S2CID 54044968. Wilkinson, E.; Green, J.C.; McLean, R.; Welsh, B. (1996). "Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrum of ɛ Canis Majoris Between 600–920 Å". Bull. Am. Astron. Soc. 28 (2): 915. Bibcode: 1996BAAS...28..915W. Ancient Polynesians used Sirius for navigation, and saw it as part of the Great Bird constellation called Manu. The bright star Canopus in Carina marked the southern wingtip and Procyon in Canis Minor the northern one. The constellation divided the sky into two hemispheres, and the stars were used as latitude markers. The declination of Sirius matches the latitude of Fiji at 17°S, which means that the star passes directly over the islands every night.

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