canis major
the great dog
✦ overview
this is the great dog of orion, following the hunter across the sky. it contains sirius, the brightest star in the entire night sky! so bright it can cast faint shadows on earth on a clear night. very cool.
✦ facts
- sirius is only 8.6 light years away, which is why it appears so bright
- ancient egyptians used to use sirius to predict the annual flooding of the nile. its appearance on the horizon marked the start of their new year
- sirius is actually a binary system. it has a small white dwarf companion called sirius b orbiting it. they were very creative with the names as u can see