Dog Days

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For the U.S. TV series, see Dog Days (TV series).
For the Swedish film, see Rötmånad.
For the Austrian film, see Hundstage.

The Dog Days or the dog days of summer are typically the hottest and most humid times of the year. They are a phenomenon of the northern hemisphere where they usually fall between July and early September but the actual days vary greatly from region to region, depending on latitude and climate. Dog days can also define a time period or event that is very hot or stagnant.

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[edit] The name

The dog days get their name because they occur during the time the star Sirius, known as the Dog Star (and the brightest star of all as seen from Earth, except the Sun), rises before the Sun after being lost in the sun's glare during the spring and early summer. This is also attested to by the fact that the dog days are called la canícula in Spanish, from the Latin canis. The ancient Egyptians observed that the annual flooding of the Nile Delta would typically occur shortly after the star returned to view immediately before sunrise, taken to be around mid-August in the current calendar.

[edit] Southern hemisphere

By contrast, "dog days" as defined herein do not occur at all in the Southern Hemisphere, for there even when the star is least favourably placed for viewing (around July 1), it will be briefly visible both in the east before dawn and again in the west after dusk. Throughout most of Antarctica Sirius is circumpolar; that is to say, constantly above the horizon.

[edit] Further north

The further north one goes, the longer Sirius remains invisible each year, and beyond a latitude of approximately 74°N (to the north of any part of mainland Europe or North America) the star never appears above the horizon at all, making the colloquial, modern use of the term "dog days" to refer to the hot days of summer less than universally accurate.

[edit] Roman name

The term itself was coined by the ancient Romans, who called these days caniculares dies (days of the dogs) after the constellation of Canis Major, (bigger dog) within which Sirius (α Canis Majoris) is found. As the hottest and most humid days of summer generally coincided with the period where Sirius rose/set with the sun, they believed that heat from Sirius was increasing the heat of the sun.

[edit] Other

Incidentally, dog meat is a food traditionally eaten during the hottest days of the year in South Korea.

The phrase is mentioned in the short story "The Bar Sinister" by Richard Harding Davis. The main character, who is a street dog, explains "but when the hot days come, I think they might remember that those are the dog days, and leave a little water outside in a trough, like they do for the horses."

In 2005 the dog days fell between July 3 and August 11, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac.

According to the 1552 Book of Common Prayer the “Dog Daies” begin on 6 July and end on 4 September.

In recent years, the phrase "Dog Days" or "Dog Days of Summer" have also frequently be used in reference to the American stock market(s). Typically, summer is a very slow time for the stock market. Also, poor performings stocks with little future potential are frequently known as "dogs".

It could simply be that the "Dog Days of Summer" are the most hot and humid, where common references show people panting much like a dog would, and where the weather is seen as so hot and humid work outdoors is undesirable, like a lazy dog.

[edit] See also

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