To and From Sirius
by Rev. Mary B. O'Malley, MD, PhD ©2012
Photo by Fred Espenak, used with permission.
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About the star: Sirius is actually a binary star, Sirius A and Sirius B. Twice as big as our Sun, Sirius A is the larger of the two paired stars, orbiting around the white dwarf star Sirius B. Sirius A is classed as an Am star because the spectrum shows deep metallic absorption lines, indicating high amounts of metals such as iron. The paired stars rotate about one another, with a period of 50.1 years and result in periodic dimming or fluctuating brightness when viewed from the Earth. Together they are the brightest 'star' in the night sky, known as the "Dog Star" as part of the constellation Canis Major (Greater Dog). Sirius has figured prominently in many cultures and spiritual traditions, both as source of timing (e.g., rising in the 'dog days' of summer in Egypt marking the time when flooding of the Nile was expected to support the year's crops), navigational guidance, and spiritual lineage (the Dogon Tribe of Africa and many North American Indigenous believe their ancestors come from the 'dog star').
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirius |