Midnight Culmination of Sirius

Description

“The Sparkling One” or the “Scorching one”, also called the “Dog Star” and the “Nile Star”. This is the brightest of the fixed stars, the “leader of the host of heaven”, and a splendid object throughout the winter months for observers in the northern hemi sphere. To Americans the coming of Sirius heralds the approach of the Christmas season and conjures up visions of sparkling frosty nights and snow-laden fir trees; at Thanksgiving Week the star rises at about 9:00 pm, but by Christmas Eve he may seen coming over the eastern horizon by 7:00. On New Year’s Eve he dominates the southern sky, reaching culmination just at midnight. Sirius is referred to in a striking passage from the Iliad, where King Priam, from the walls of Troy, sees the wrathful Achilles advancing across the Trojan plain….. “blazing as the that cometh forth at harvest-time, shining forth amid the host of stars in the darkness of the night, the star whose name men call Orion’s Dog. Brightest of all is he, yet for an evil sign is he set, and bringeth much fever upon hapless men…”

Published by: RBC Publications