Sirius

sir'i-us, or the dog-star, the brightest star in the heavens. It is situated in the constellation of Canis Major, or the Great Dog. It has thirteen times the sun's magnitude and 3.24 times the sun's mass, yet, owing to distance, it gives us only 1/7,000,000,000 as much light as the sun. The Egyptians hailed the appearance of Sirius with delight as the forerunner of the flood of the Nile. The Romans regarded Sirius as the cause of the hot or dogdays of summer. In mythology, Sirius is the hunting dog of Orion. The star follows its master through the heavens at a respectful distance. See Orion; Constellation