A Dog In the Sky—Are You Sirius?
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SAR presents the Dog Days of Summer, a series of outdoor talks about human’s best friend. Dogs invited! Stroll the scenic SAR campus in the cool morning, then join a community of dog lovers to hear talks in honor of the Dog Days of Summer. Open to humans and responsibly handled, leashed dogs. Cold beverages provided.
Tickets: FREE
Advance registration encouraged.
Gates open at 9 AM for coffee. Talk begins at 10:00 AM.
A Dog In the Sky—Are You Sirius?
Isabel Hawkins
Astronomer and Senior Scientist
Director, Osher Fellowship Program, Exploratorium (San Francisco)
The brightest star in the Northern Hemisphere, Sirius, belongs to the Greek constellation Canis Major—the Big Dog. Its rise at dawn in early August signals the hottest days of summer, a time of wilting plants, sweat, sunhats, and napping dogs. Over 5,000 years ago, Egyptian astronomers used the “heliacal rise” of Sirius—its first pre-dawn appearance—to mark the new year and the Nile’s annual flooding. Today, Maya farmers in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, still observe the heliacal rise of Sirius, the Pleiades star cluster, and the position of the Milky Way to anticipate the “canícula” or “small dog,” a period of extreme heat and drought that guides agricultural and ceremonial practices. Across time and cultures, Sirius has shaped seasonal rhythms and traditions. Join us to explore the rich astronomical and cultural meanings of the “Dog in the Sky” and its celestial companions.
Isabel Hawkins, Ph.D., is a bilingual and bicultural astronomer and science educator with a doctorate in astrophysics from UCLA. Since 2009, Dr. Hawkins is Astronomer & Senior Scientist at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, the pioneering interactive museum that integrates science, art, and human perception. Prior to joining the Exploratorium, she worked as a Senior Space Fellow at UC Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory for 20 years, conducting research and helping to build instrumentation for several NASA satellite research projects. As a Fulbright US Global Scholar in Aotearoa/New Zealand, Guatemala, and Peru (2018-22), she conducted cross-cultural research on traditional knowledge of the Pleiades star cluster in collaboration with Indigenous knowledge holders. Minor planet 27120, discovered in 1998, is named after Dr. Hawkins, and she is recipient of the prestigious Klumpke–Roberts Award from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific for her contributions to the popularization of astronomy.
Get Tickets
Tickets: FREE
Advance registration encouraged.
Gates open at 9 AM for coffee. Talk begins at 10:00 AM.
A Dog In the Sky—Are You Sirius?
Isabel Hawkins
Astronomer and Senior Scientist
Director, Osher Fellowship Program, Exploratorium (San Francisco)
The brightest star in the Northern Hemisphere, Sirius, belongs to the Greek constellation Canis Major—the Big Dog. Its rise at dawn in early August signals the hottest days of summer, a time of wilting plants, sweat, sunhats, and napping dogs. Over 5,000 years ago, Egyptian astronomers used the “heliacal rise” of Sirius—its first pre-dawn appearance—to mark the new year and the Nile’s annual flooding. Today, Maya farmers in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, still observe the heliacal rise of Sirius, the Pleiades star cluster, and the position of the Milky Way to anticipate the “canícula” or “small dog,” a period of extreme heat and drought that guides agricultural and ceremonial practices. Across time and cultures, Sirius has shaped seasonal rhythms and traditions. Join us to explore the rich astronomical and cultural meanings of the “Dog in the Sky” and its celestial companions.
Isabel Hawkins, Ph.D., is a bilingual and bicultural astronomer and science educator with a doctorate in astrophysics from UCLA. Since 2009, Dr. Hawkins is Astronomer & Senior Scientist at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, the pioneering interactive museum that integrates science, art, and human perception. Prior to joining the Exploratorium, she worked as a Senior Space Fellow at UC Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory for 20 years, conducting research and helping to build instrumentation for several NASA satellite research projects. As a Fulbright US Global Scholar in Aotearoa/New Zealand, Guatemala, and Peru (2018-22), she conducted cross-cultural research on traditional knowledge of the Pleiades star cluster in collaboration with Indigenous knowledge holders. Minor planet 27120, discovered in 1998, is named after Dr. Hawkins, and she is recipient of the prestigious Klumpke–Roberts Award from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific for her contributions to the popularization of astronomy.
Get Tickets
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