Sirius

Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, is more commonly known by the name of the Dog-star, since it occurs in the constellation known as Canis Major. Seen through a powerful telescope, Sirius is brilliantly white, and the light is so dazzling that the effect on the eye is as painful as that produced by directly gazing at the sun at noon. A small, darker star was discovered by Mr. Clark, of New York, in 1862, and observed to revolve with Sirius about a common centre, the motion of each influencing that of the other. The motion of Sirius has been shown to be undulatory, the star moving on each side of a mean position. Since Sirius is so bright an object in the sky, it was, of course, known to the ancients, and became the object of many myths and superstitions, of which the tales of the Dog Days are survivals.