Canis Major
The Great Dog
Hastening
Canis Major is a very large constellation that contains Sirius, the brightest star in the entire sky. When I think of Sirius, I am reminded of Hohei Nojiri (1885-1977), who named Pluto. I am astonished by the detailed explanations he wrote about Sirius and how he managed to collect such extensive information at that time. Upon rereading his work, I decided that if I were to write about Sirius here, I would borrow from Nojiri's literature.
The image above is an artist's impression of the direction of the solar system centered around Sirius. Sirius has a companion star, Sirius B, which is not visible to the naked eye and is about the size of Earth. The image also compares these two stars. Sirius is 2.5 times the diameter of the Sun, located 8.6 light-years away, and outshines all other first-magnitude stars. Aquila's Altair (depicted above Sirius in the image) has the standard brightness of a first-magnitude star, but Sirius shines with 13 times that brightness.
Sisask's image of Canis Major is "Hastening." I discovered that Nojiri also shares the same image in his writings.
From Hohei Nojiri's book "Stars 365 Days: Winter."
"As December deepened... Around 9 o'clock, I saw Sirius for the first time this winter. About twenty degrees southeast from the three stars, it was twinkling vigorously in the haze still lingering near the horizon. It's always a hasty twinkle, but tonight it was almost hysterical, frequently changing from blue to red... Sirius is a super first-magnitude star at -1.6 magnitude, and unless there is a large planet, it is the king of winter nights... When this king appears, it feels as if Orion and all the other stars hold their breath and look at it sideways."
Upon further reading, it appears that the "hasty" image aligns with beliefs that have been held since ancient times. From the Greek to the Roman era, it was believed that Sirius's intense light, when aligned with the sun in the sky, brought plagues, pestilence, and heat waves to humans and animals. It was said, "When Sirius rises, water bubbles, wine in storage shakes, and the water in swamps boils." Additionally, in the UK, Sirius is called the Dog Star, and the hottest days of summer are referred to as the "Dog Days." This is because the appearance of this star coincides with the extreme summer heat that drives dogs mad.
Sisask's music for Canis Major actually has a dog-like character, but in Sisask's case, the name of the constellation itself usually doesn't influence the music, so I was curious. However, after reading Nojiri's writings, it makes sense. The musical atmosphere reflects a sense of dogs going mad and the boiling heat that makes water bubble.
Incidentally, in China, Sirius is called "Langxing" or "Tianlang" (Wolf Star or Celestial Wolf). In Japan, it is known as "Aoboshi" or "Ooboshi" (Blue Star or Great Star), while in Egypt, it was revered as the "Nile Star" or "Sothis" (Star on the Water) and used to predict the flooding of the Nile. It is said that the day Sirius rose before the sun at dawn during the summer solstice was celebrated as New Year's Day. (For more interesting stories, please refer to Nojiri's writings, which contain many more details.)
This image was taken at the Mingantu Station observatory in Mongolia. The blue-white star shining just above the radio telescope is Sirius. It’s important to remember that Sirius, along with the orange Betelgeuse in Orion (with its three stars just to the upper right) and the white Procyon in Canis Minor to the upper left, forms the "Winter Triangle." The Winter Triangle spans the Milky Way. This image magnificently captures that triangle, along with the Geminid meteor shower. Across the Milky Way, on the opposite side of Orion, the twin stars Castor and Pollux of Gemini are also visible, from which the meteor shower radiates.
Sisask's piece for Canis Major is a little over a minute long, but it has a completely different impression from the pieces before and after it. It seems to evoke the legends of Sirius, and the way the star twinkles is translated into music. Finally, I would like to end with one more quote from Nojiri's writings, about the way Sirius shines.
From Hohei Nojiri's "Romance of the Starry Sky":
On nights with strong cold winds or heavy fog, Sirius, the Blue Star, twinkles more restlessly than ever. It almost seems to be in a panic. The desert Arabs call it the "Star of a Thousand Colors," as it changes color from blue to white to green to purple to red and more, almost as if the star itself were a prism. In the moment it turns red, I always get the impression that the star has flipped over. Watching it for two or three minutes, my heartbeat naturally synchronizes with its twinkle, and my pulse quickens. There is no other star in the entire sky like this one.
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