Sirius
Sirus, also known as Dog Star is the brightest star in the sky and is easy to see with the naked eye in the winter and spring. In comparison to the Sun in size Sirius is about double the Suns mass. Sirius is actually a binary system meaning to the naked eye it appears to be one star when in fact it is two stars that orbit each other. One interesting fact about the Dog Star is that although the star is actually a bluish or whitish the star has sometimes been called the rainbow star because it often flickers with many colors. Another interesting fact about the star is that the reason the star is called the Dog Star is because it is apart of the constellation Canis Major or Big Dog. Because the Dog Star is behind the Sun in the summer people believed this is why it got so hot in the summer, dog days. The Egyptians also thought that the star was associated with different Gods and believed the star would appear right before a flood would hit.
Star: Sirius or Dog Star
Location: Right ascension: 6h 45m 9s
Declination: -16 degrees 42' 58"
Chemical Makeup: High abundance of iron (approximately 316% that of the sun)
Stellar Classification: A0 White Star
References:
Sirius is Dog Star and brightest star | EarthSky.org. (n.d.). Retrieved September 26, 2015, from http://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/sirius-the-brightest-star
Sirius. (n.d.). Retrieved September 26, 2015, from http://www.glyphweb.com/esky/stars/sirius.html
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