By LISA VANDERHOOP
Ah, the dog days of summer. It’s an often used term, part of our vernacular, bringing to mind the hottest, most sultry days of the year. But where the did the phrase come from?
Dog days originated centuries ago with several ancient cultures, including the Romans, who called this time Caniculares Dies, or “days of the dogs” after Sirius, the Dog Star in the constellation of Canis Major. Both the ancient Romans and Egyptians knew that from early July to mid-August Sirius used to rise and set at about the same time as our sun. And they knew that Sirius is the brightest star in the heavens besides the sun. In fact the Dog Star is 23 times more luminous and about twice the mass and diameter as the sun.
The ancient Greeks were in on this concept too. The name we use for the star comes from the Greek word Seirius, meaning “searing.” Because Sirius was such a bright star they thought that its heat and light added to the heat of the sun, helping to create the heat waves that are often associated with midsummer. These ancient cultures used to sacrifice a brown dog at the beginning of these “dog days” to appease the rage of Sirius, believing that the star was the cause of these scorching days.
The Old Farmer’s Almanac lists the traditional timing of the “dog days” as the 40 days beginning July 3 and ending August 11. This coincided with the ancient sunrise rising of the Dog Star. This, however, is no longer true, because every 26,000 years something called a precession cycle occurs, in which the planet’s axis wobbles due to the gravitational attraction of the sun and moon on the earth’s equatorial bulge. Therefore Sirius is no longer in sync with the hottest part of the summer, rising later in the year. And this is a phenomenon of the northern hemisphere only, varying greatly from region to region, depending on climate and latitude.
The dog days of summer also refers to the laziness of dogs during these hottest days of summer in many people’s minds. There is a notion of lying around or being “dog tired” on these hot and humid days. The American Stock Market even refers to the concept: the dog days of summer is used to describe a slow time for the market, where poorly performing stocks with little potential are known as dogs.
Despite some of the negative connotations surrounding the dog days, we know that it’s a very cool time here on the Vineyard. The best time of the year! Especially when we beat the heat at the beach with our friends, families — and of course our canine companions.
Lisa Vanderhoop is a photographer who publishes the Vineyard Seadogs Calendar. The third in the series, for calendar year 2009, features Island dogs playing in Island shores; it is in stores now.
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