As summers go, I guess this one hasn't been too terribly hot. But it's not over yet. We've still got a few weeks before the official onset of autumn and, hopefully, cooler temperatures.

In the meantime, however, pay close attention and I'll bet you hear someone refer to this time of year as the dog days of summer. One might guess the term "dog days" comes from the seemingly lethargic behavior of our canine companions in the late-summer heat — but then one would be barking up the wrong tree.

No, its origin, like that of many everyday words and phrases, lies among the stars. The ancients, particularly those of the Mediterranean, knew this time not only for its sweltering heat, but also for the disease and discomfort that was prevalent. It was a time when meat spoiled rapidly and food poisoning could take a serious toll on the population. Even rabies, at least in folklore, seemed to be more common around this time of year.

To make sense of it all the ancients looked to the heavens for answers. It was the ancient Romans and Greeks who noticed that the Dog Star, or Sirius, rose with the sun — its heliacal rising, as we know it today — around mid-July in the hottest time of year. Many at the time believed that the combined heat of the Dog Star and the sun produced the scorching heat of late summer. In Latin the Romans called them the "caniculares dies," or dog days. Over time the connection between late summer heat, Sirius and the phrase became ingrained into culture.

Nowadays, if you wish to watch the heliacal rising of Sirius, you've got to wait until around this time of year. That is because the Earth tends to wobble on its axis, an effect called precession, so over several millennia the positions of celestial objects tend to shift slightly in the heavens.

We can get some idea of what the ancients saw, however, by simply going outdoors during the first light of dawn this week and facing southeast. Low in the sky you will see the brilliant star Sirius sparkling and shimmering in a variety of colors.

With or without Sirius, late summer is hot. So enjoy the warmth while it lasts because, trust me, it won't be long before we're whining about the cold!

To find out more about Dennis Mammana and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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