Q: Why are they called “the dog days of summer?”

A: The star Sirius – the brightest star in the sky, by far – is colloquially known as the “Dog Star” reflecting its prominence in its constellation, Canis Major (the Greater Dog). The heliacal rising of Sirius marked the flooding of the Nile in Ancient Egypt and the “dog days” of summer for the ancient Greeks, while to the Polynesians, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, the star marked winter and was an important reference for their navigation around the Pacific Ocean.