Page:Star Lore Of All Ages, 1911.pdf/161

Rh first magnitude. It amounts to 1.31″. In this connection it is interesting to note Al-Sufi's statement concerning the Arab name for Sirius, "Al-abûr." According to this noted astronomer Sirius was so-called because it had passed across the Milky Way into the southern region of the sky. It is a remarkable fact that the proper motion of Sirius would have carried it across the Milky Way from the eastern to the western border in 60,000 years. Possibly the Arabian story may be based on a tradition of Sirius having been seen on the opposite side of the Milky Way by the men of the Stone Age.

It is generally conceded that this star is receding from us, its rate of speed given variously by different authorities as from eighteen to forty miles a second. It comes to the meridian at 9, Feb. 11th.

The Arab names and meanings of the principal stars in Canis Major, Sirius excepted, are appended: