Summer's Dog Days

The Dog Days of Summer refers to the period from July 3 to Aug. 11. The namecame about because of a star known as Sirius or the "dog" star. During July andearly August, Sirius rises just after the sun. Some ancient peoples believedthat the star added heat to the day thus this warm period became known as theDog Days.As you know, the Earth takes an elliptical path around the sun, and onewould think that the Earth is closest to the sun during the summer. Believe itor not, the Earth actually reaches it's most distant position from the sun(Aphelion) during the first week of July. The reason is that the NorthernHemisphere is warmest this time of year is mainly due to the tilt of theEarth's axis. The greater distance from the sun is just a very small part ofthe equation.