Sirius in fiction

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An artist's impression of Sirius A and Sirius B. Sirius A is the bigger star, Sirius B the smaller white dwarf. (NASA)
An artist's impression of Sirius A and Sirius B. Sirius A is the bigger star, Sirius B the smaller white dwarf. (NASA)

Sirius (Alpha Canis Majoris), the brightest star in the night sky, is frequently mentioned in science fiction and related popular culture. [1]

Contents

[edit] In science fiction

Sirius is usually treated as a location where events may take place, or from which people or artifacts may originate, usually in works of science fiction.

[edit] Literature

[edit] Film and television

  • Doctor Who, television series.
  • V (1983), television series. Sirius is the home star system of the "Visitors".
  • Children of the Dog Star (1984), television series. Sirius B is the origin of three space probes, one of which began the Dogon legend.
  • Power Rangers: S.P.D. (2005), television series. Sirius is the homeworld of dogheaded aliens including Anubis Cruger.
  • You Only Live Once (song) (2007), Music video. Sirius is the destination of the space probe in the alternative music video for this record by The Strokes. (watch).
  • "Talos IV" in the Star Trek Original Series Pilot episode "The Cage" was originally going to be called "Sirius IV" and be inhabited by crab-like beings, but the script was changed.([1]).

[edit] Comics and anime

  • Voices of a Distant Star (Hoshi no Koe), Original Video Animation. A human expedition of four intergalactic spaceships travels to the Sirius star system to chase down enemy aliens called Tarsians. The anime also features the (fictional) fourth planet of the star system called Agharta.

[edit] Games

  • Freelancer, computer game. Takes place in the "Sirius Sector" of space after 'sleeper ships' (colony ships) escape from the warring Earth solar system.
  • Serious Sam, video game series. Sirius is the star from which the evil presence, Mental, is commanding its armies. The term "Serious Sam" is therefore a pun since much of the game's story revolves around Egyptian culture being influenced by aliens from the Sirius system under Mental's control.
  • FreeSpace 2, computer game. Sirius is one of the three star systems under the control of the Neo-Terran Front in their war for independence against the Galactic Terran-Vasudan Alliance and is used as a staging ground for NTF assaults into Alpha Centauri and Deneb.
  • Earth & Beyond, computer game by Electronic Arts. Sirius is a planetary system.
  • Mantis, computer game by MicroProse. The antagonists are telepathic insectoids from the Sirius system.
  • Independence War, computer game. Sirius B is the system in which the hidden COSA base is located.
  • Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, computer game series. Headquarters of the Sirius Corporation.
  • Battletech wargame franchise. Sirius is a location in the Inner Sphere.
  • In the Traveller role-playing game franchise, Sirius is a barren, irradiated system devoid of planets from the intense stellar wind from Sirius A.

[edit] Other uses

Sirius is often treated simply as a star visible from Earth, with magical or metaphorical import, but not as a location:

  • Absalom and Achitophel (1681), satirical poem by John Dryden. Sirius was commonly thought to cause madness in 18th century England, and it is alluded to in the context of showing that it would plainly be mad to think that Charles II should "displease" the English people (LL.333-334).
  • Dogsbody (1975), novel by Diana Wynne Jones. The star Sirius is an intelligent being falsely accused of murdering another star by his peers. As punishment he is sent to Earth in the body of a new born puppy to find the weapon he supposedly used.
  • The Silmarillion (1977), novel by J. R. R. Tolkien. Sirius is called Helluin by the Elves.
  • Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas (1994), novel by Tom Robbins. Deals with various Dogon/Sirius mysteries as well as much of the general mythology surrounding the star.

The name "Sirius" is also often applied to people, animals, or things not directly connected with the star. For these uses, see Sirius (disambiguation).

[edit] References

  1. ^ (1993) Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy. St. Martin's Griffin, Pg. 108. ISBN 978-0312089269.