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Ephemeris: 02/16/2026 – The Dog Star

February 16, 2026 Comments off

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for President’s Day, Monday, February 16th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 31 minutes, setting at 6:12, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:39. The Moon, 1 day before new, will rise at 7:51 tomorrow morning.

The second-brightest star-like object in the evening sky is Sirius, also known as the Dog Star. It also is the brightest nighttime star in our skies period.  Tonight at 9 p.m. it’s located in the southern 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 lower left to Sirius. Sirius means ‘Dazzling One’, because of its great brilliance and twinkling.  Its Egyptian name was Sopdet, and its first appearance in the dawn skies around July 20th signaled the flooding of the Nile, and the beginning of the agricultural year.  The relationship of the heliacal rising of Sirius and the seasonal or tropical year lasted from about 2900 BCE to the start of the Common Era. Sirius owes much of its brilliance to the fact that it lies close to us, only 8.6 light years away.

The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EST, UT – 5 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

Orion's belt points to Sirius
In the southern sky, Orion’s belt points to Sirius. Created using Stellarium, Libreoffice and GIMP.
The Egyptian used the heliacal rising of Sirius as a signal that the flooding of the Nile was imminent, starting their agricultural year.
The Egyptians used the heliacal rising of Sirius as a signal that the flooding of the Nile was imminent, starting their agricultural year. The Greeks called the star Sothis, while the Egyptians themselves called it Sopdet, a goddess, and consort of the god Sah, our Orion. Part of my presentation on ancient Egyptian astronomy.

Trivia Note

The Greeks invented the term “Dog days of summer” for the hottest days of July because they thought that Sirius added its intensity to the heat of the Sun to make it hotter out. So why doesn’t Sirius help warm our winter nights? Just asking.

Categories: Constellations, Ephemeris Program, Mythology, Observing, Stars Tags: , , , ,