Prismtect › Constellations › Canis Major
the Great Dog
Follow Orion's Belt down to the left to Sirius, the brightest star of the night sky. The dog's body and legs stretch below it in a group of bright stars.
The Great Dog follows Orion the hunter across the sky. In ancient Egypt the first dawn appearance of Sirius came before the yearly flood of the Nile and marked the new year.
Sirius is bright mostly because it is close, about 8.6 light years away, one of the nearest stars to the Sun.
Before it was a dog, this was a weapon.
Greek writers named the dog in different ways: Laelaps, a hound Zeus gave to Europa, or a dog so fast that Zeus raised it to the sky.
In China, Sirius was Tianlang, the Celestial Wolf (Tenrō in Japanese, Cheonrang in Korean).
In ancient Persian religion, Sirius was Tishtrya, a god of rain and fertility.
The Māori grouped Canis Major and Canis Minor into Te Huinga-o-Rehua, "the Assembly of Rehua", and called Sirius Rehua or Takarua.
The Boorong people of Victoria see one star of the dog as Unurgunite, with a wife on each side.
Many North American peoples also linked Sirius with dogs.
Before it was a dog, this was a weapon. Babylonian tablets from about 1100 BC call Sirius KAK.SI.SA2, an arrow aimed at Orion. The stars to the south, with part of Puppis, were a bow. Later texts link the arrow with the warrior god Ninurta and the bow with the goddess Ishtar. The Greeks replaced the bow and arrow with a dog.
Greek writers named the dog in different ways: Laelaps, a hound Zeus gave to Europa, or a dog so fast that Zeus raised it to the sky. Romans called it Custos Europae, the dog that failed to stop Europa being carried off, and Janitor Lethaeus, "the watchdog". The name Sirius comes from Greek for "glowing" or "scorcher".
In China, Sirius was Tianlang, the Celestial Wolf (Tenrō in Japanese, Cheonrang in Korean). Stars to its south-east formed Hushi, a great bow with an arrow aimed at the wolf. Another ring of stars was a Military Market, with a wild cockerel inside it.
In ancient Persian religion, Sirius was Tishtrya, a god of rain and fertility. Taking the form of a white horse, he fought Apaosha, the demon of drought.
The Māori grouped Canis Major and Canis Minor into Te Huinga-o-Rehua, "the Assembly of Rehua", and called Sirius Rehua or Takarua. The Tuamotu people called Canis Major "the abiding assemblage of Takarua".
The Boorong people of Victoria see one star of the dog as Unurgunite, with a wife on each side. The Moon tried to lure one wife away; Unurgunite fought him, and the Moon has wandered the sky ever since. Unurgunite is now this star's official name. The Tharumba people of the Shoalhaven River tell of Wunbula the Bat and his two wives, placed in the sky as the constellation Munowra.
Many North American peoples also linked Sirius with dogs. The Seri and Tohono O'odham saw a dog following mountain sheep. To the Blackfoot it was "Dog-face". The Skidi Pawnee called it the Wolf Star. The Cherokee saw it as a dog guarding one end of the Path of Souls. Inuit of the Bering Strait called it "Moon Dog".
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