EarthSky Tonight August 28, 2016. Every year, during the last week of August, a first hint of the changing of the seasons can be seen in the predawn sky: Orion the Hunter and Sirius the Dog Star. The very noticeable constellation Orion the Hunter rises before dawn at this time of year, recognizable for the short straight line of three stars that make up Orion’s Belt. And the sky’s brightest star Sirius – sometimes called the Dog Star because it’s part of the constellation Canis Major the Greater Dog – follows Orion into the sky at or close to dawn. Have you noticed a very bright, madly twinkling star in the predawn sky? Many do, at this time of year. That star is Sirius. It’s so bright that, when it’s low in the sky, it shines with glints of red and flashes of blue – very noticeable!

Orion and the nearby star Sirius will become visible in the evening by northern winter (or southern summer). But presently the Hunter and the Dog Star lord over the southeastern sky at dawn’s first light.

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