Modern astronomy has divided the entire celestial sphere into certain areas, calling them constellations. Each such site contains dozens, and sometimes hundreds of stars. In the old days, they were simplified by assigning different figures to each constellation. By connecting the stars with lines, the ancients obtained drawings that vaguely resemble earthly creatures. So the constellations Peacock, Crane, Golden Fish and so on appeared. There are currently 47 constellations in the Northern Hemisphere and 41 in the Southern Hemisphere. The brightest star in the northern sky is believed to be in the constellation Canis Major (Canis Major in Latin).
Constellation Canis Major
Combining all the lines in this constellation between the stars, we get a picture that is somewhat reminiscent of a dog. There are 148 stars in total. We can see only 80 of them, and the most prominent of them is Sirius. This bright star in the sky emits a bluish glow, so it is difficult not to notice it. It is worth noting that it is Sirius that is considered the leader in brightness not only in the constellation itself, but also in the vastness of the entire night sky above the Earth. Therefore alreadyfor thousands of years people have paid special attention to her.
It can be seen both in the Northern and Southern hemispheres of our planet. This is due to the fact that it is very close to our solar system. Only Alpha Centauri, Wolf 359, Bernard's star and the red dwarf Lalande are closer than Sirius.
The distance between the Sun and Sirius is 8.64 light years. Compared to the location of other stars in the Milky Way, this distance is considered negligible. Apart from the largest planets in our system, this bright star is the most visible in the sky.
Sirius
Until about the middle of the nineteenth century, it was believed that this Sirius was alone in the whole sky, until in 1844 a theory was put forward that there was a large body next to it, invisible to the human eye. This fact was suggested by the astronomer Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel from Germany. He built this hypothesis on the principle of the movement of a celestial body and the trajectory of its deviation.
In his opinion, this invisible body, together with Sirius, rotates according to the same type, and he calculated that one rotation occurs in fifty years. But his theory was rejected by other respected astronomers on the basis of a lack of practical evidence. Friedrich could not prove his case until his death, and sixteen years later in America, the creator of the telescope, Alvan Graham Clark, saw another celestial body next to this bright star in the sky. Thanks to this, Sirius began to be observed, and soon the theory of the Germanastronomer has been confirmed.
White dwarf
After quite a bit of time, astronomers managed to understand why Sirius is moving along such a trajectory. It's all about the star that is nearby - scientists gave it the name Sirius B. Its status is a white dwarf, in which thermonuclear reactions do not occur. It is also interesting that the mass of this celestial body is equal to the mass of the Sun, while the size is much smaller. That is why Sirius B attracts other stars, provoking them to rotate along a certain trajectory. Its influence extends to the brightest star in the sky - Sirius A.
Sirius B became the first white dwarf with such a gigantic mass. Scientists have determined that these stars are about three hundred million years old. There is a theory that when Sirius was just born, it consisted of two objects, one of which exceeded our luminary five times in mass, the other two. The first luminary burned out, turning into Sirius B, visible to us, with a reduced diameter and a large mass. Sirius A has retained its properties, so people can admire its radiance for more than the first millennium.
Red glow of Sirius
In ancient times, different thinkers also observed Sirius, but there is a very strange pattern in their observations: they all noticed that a bright star in the sky in the south emits a red glow. The Roman philosopher and noble citizen Lucius Anneus Seneca called her a bright red star. The same glow was observed by Claudius Ptolemy in the fourth century BC.
One could assume that the color of the star was distorted due to the hemisphere where the observers were located. But even in the history of Chinese astronomy there are records of a red star, which was observed by the scientist Sima Qian. Almost all peoples in ancient times left records of such an unusual sight. Astronomers believed that quite recently (by celestial standards) a bright star in the night sky was red.
The official version of the red glow
But official science does not agree with this statement at all. They believe that in such a short period of time, no cardinal changes could have occurred with Sirius. According to modern scientists, people of that time simply wanted to embellish what they saw by adding vivid epithets to the description. In addition, if you watch him in the evening and morning, you can see that Sirius flickers - it is this flicker that distorts his true light.
Worship Sirius
To understand the meaning of the beliefs and cults created on the basis of the worship of this star, one must take into account not only the fact that it has been visible from all over the Earth for many centuries, but also to which constellation the star Sirius belongs. For example, the Sumerians called it the Arrow, in their religion it was believed that the god Ninurta sent this arrow. But the Egyptians believed that this star represents the goddess Soptet.
Egypt
Egyptian astronomers began to observe this star. By the way, with its help, they determined exactly when the Nile would flood. They believed that this was due to the tears of the goddess Isis,mourning her husband, Osiris, the god of agriculture. Also in ancient Egypt, the year was counted not by the Sun, but by Sirius.
Greece
But in Greek mythology the word "Sirius" has a direct translation - "bright". The Greeks believed that the brightest star in the sky in January was the Great Canis of Orion. The Greeks also believed that this dog was on the trail of the Pleiades, hunted by Osiris, and chasing the Hare.
In Latin, this star was called Vacation, which means "little dog". Those moments when Sirius was most visible were considered the days of this star. These days it was impossible to do anything, and it was difficult to do it, because they were the hottest of the year.
At the same time, the indigenous people of New Zealand revered the star Sirius as the embodiment of the deity Rehua, who lives in the highest sky.
Dogon
The most mysterious worship of Sirius at the moment is the service of this star by the Dogon tribe. Despite the fact that modern science has only recently discovered Sirius B, it has been known to the inhabitants of this tribe since very ancient times. And this is taking into account the fact that the device of life and the level of knowledge of the Dogon is still at the primitive level.
It is also worth noting the fact that the calendar of this tribe is built on a fifty-year period, which refers exactly to the period of rotation of the white dwarf around the bright star Sirius A. It is impossible to see this star without equipment, and the Dogon even have primitive devicesno sky observation.
Conclusion
The brightest star in the sky is Sirius. It can be seen from both the Southern Hemisphere and the Northern Hemisphere. They watched this star for a very long time, and in the end they found out which constellation the star Sirius belongs to - it is called the constellation Canis Major. It is believed that this star is the second most important for the Earth after the Sun. Until now, many of the information and legends associated with Sirius are considered a mystery to modern science. That is why many are interested in what this star is, which is so close to us.
