The mysterious star Sirius

The constellation of the Great Dog, and especially its main star - Sirius, is known to people since ancient times. This is not surprising, given that Sirius is a true "lamp" of the sky: its apparent brightness is second only to the Sun, the Moon and three other planets of the Solar System - Mars, Venus and Jupiter. In addition, the star Sirius is visible in the sky almost from any point of our planet, which made the constellation and the star well-known.

According to scientific data, Sirius is the alpha constellation of the Great Dog. The distance from our system is "only" 8.6 light years, which makes it one of the closest to us. Interestingly, the Sirius star is double or even triple (although the existence of the third component has not yet been proven). Accordingly, the bright element is Sirius A (alpha), and the second component is the white dwarf Sirius B. Full rotation occurs around the common center in 50 years. Initially, the mass of Sirius A was equal to 2 masses of the Sun, but Sirius B was massive, amounting to almost 5 solar masses. Subsequently, the latter collapsed to the state of a white dwarf (high density of matter, relatively small temperature and diameter).

The star Sirius B was discovered in 1862 by indirect observation: distortions in the motion of the second component (alpha), caused by the attraction of a massive dark satellite, were fixed. The calculations made it possible to detect it directly. Sirius exists for at least 200 million years. All the parameters of the star can be found in the relevant literature.

What is so interesting about the constellation? Sirius is mentioned in many cultures, separated by centuries. Even the ancient Dogon knew about the star. For example, the lines from the Bible are well known, in which the magi who appeared to the born Jesus are informed that they were brought by a bright star in the east. Also, many channeling practitioners claim that the Great Dog's alpha system is inhabited, and there live highly developed beings who seek to help humanity.

Sirius acquired special fame thanks to the research of the Egyptian pyramids. Some mines are strictly star-oriented, in addition, there are many assumptions that the pyramids themselves were built by aliens. Whether this is true or not, time will tell, however, it is for certain known that Sirius played an important role in the life of ancient Egypt. So, at the beginning of the season his morning appearance on the sky coincided with the flood of the Nile River. Although because of this the star was deified, nothing incredible really was not. The beginning of summer caused a thawing of mountain snow in Ethiopia, strong equatorial rains and, as a result, rising water levels and spilling over a fertile plain. After its collapse, it was possible to start the necessary agricultural work.

Despite the "close" location, Sirius remains poorly understood. Even its large second component was detected indirectly, due to distortions in the trajectory of the motion of Sirius A. Accordingly, there can not be any question of observing the planetary system. Therefore, it is not known whether there is life in that system. Strangely, all the ancient philosophers (for example, Ptolemy, Seneca) call Sirius a red star, although its glow is bluish. The red color could be explained by the presence of a red giant in the system , since the white dwarf Sirius B actually passed this stage. However, it is believed that the stage of the red giant and the dumping of shells was passed 120 million years ago, and the philosophers lived at the beginning of our era. The paradox is obvious.

No doubt, the Alpha of the Great Dog conceals in itself many mysteries that will be solved by future generations. In the firmament there are not so many objects that were revered by ancient cultures, but Sirius is the brightest (in all senses) their representative.