01/22/2013 – Ephemeris – Sirius the Dog Star
Ephemeris for Tuesday, January 22nd. The sun will rise at 8:10. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 27 minutes, setting at 5:37. The moon, half way from first quarter to full, will set at 5:23 tomorrow morning.
The brightest star-like object in the evening sky is Jupiter high in the sky now. The second brightest star-like object is Sirius, also known as the Dog Star. It also is the brightest night-time star in our skies period. Tonight at 9 p.m. it’s located low in the southeastern sky. The Dog Star name comes from its position at the heart of the constellation Canis Major, the great dog of Orion the hunter. The three stars of Orion’s belt tilt to the southeast and point to Sirius. The name Sirius means ‘Dazzling One’ or ‘Scorcher’, a reference to its great brilliance and twinkling. Its Egyptian name was Sothis, and its appearance in the dawn skies in late June signaled the flooding of the Nile, and the beginning of the Egyptian agricultural year.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Winter Circle and Jupiter with Sirius at the bottom. Created using Stellarium.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 
Thank you. My son brought home a brochure from the dentist today with a strange story about the 3 stars of Orion. The illustrations were creepy if held upside down, and the story really did not have anything to do with brushing teeth, but was guided imagery to get the kids traveling to the stars, especially one they name for themselves, as they drink milk. I just stumbled on your post so I can now show the boys that the book was indeed about Sirius, and the rabbit star. I like how easy it is to see the symbol the stars create. It is hard for young ones to see it sometimes.