Astronomy of the Ancients

A Search for Exozodiacal Dust and Faint Companions near Sirius, Procyon, and Altair with the NICMOS Coronagraph1

“…Perhaps the most interesting debate about Sirius is whether or not the system appeared red to ancient observers D2000 years ago. Babylonian, Greco-Roman, and Chinese texts from this time period have separately been interpreted to say that Sirius was a red star (Brecher 1979 ;Schlosser & Bergman 1985 ;Bonnet-Bidaud & Gry 1991). Tang (1986), van Gent (1984), and McCluskey (1987 have attacked some of these reports, claiming that they represent mistranslations or misidentiÐcations of the star, and Whittet (1999) suggests that the coloration was reddening due to the EarthÏs atmosphere.…”

A physical interpretation of the ‘red Sirius’ anomaly

“…The possibility that Sirius might have been reddened in the past by the transient appearance of an interstellar cloud in the line of sight has been proposed independently by several authors (Stephanides 1976;Brecher 1979;Bruhweiler et al 1986;Gry & Bonnet-Bidaud 1990 Stephanides (1976) and Whittet (1977) appears to have been overlooked by subsequent authors. known presence of 200 or more Bok globules within 150 pc of the Sun.…”

“…Historical evidence that Sirius appeared red (comparable in colour to stars such as Aldebaran, Arcturus and Betelgeuse) as recently as 2000 years ago has been widely discussed in the literature in recent years (e.g. Brecher 1979;Schlosser & Bergmann 1985;Tang 1986Tang , 1991van Gent 1989;Gry & Bonnet-Bidaud 1990;Bonnet-Bidaud & Gry 1991;Ceragioli 1995Ceragioli , 1996see Ceragioli 1995 for a guide to earlier literature). This phenomenon, which I refer to as the`red Sirius' anomaly, appears to have stimulated interest and scepticism in almost equal measure.…”

“…This phenomenon, which I refer to as the`red Sirius' anomaly, appears to have stimulated interest and scepticism in almost equal measure. The evidence is based on interpretations of ancient texts from several cultures, including Babylonian, Greco-Roman, Chinese and early-medieval European sources, over a total time-span of approximately 1400 years (800 bc to ad 600: e.g . Brecher 1979;Schlosser & Bergmann 1985;Bonnet-Bidaud & Gry 1991).…”