Sirius in fiction below)—and even if such were eventually discovered, with an estimated age of 230 million years the system is too young to have fostered the development of life or a complex biosphere. Sirius AB is the alpha star of the constellation Canis Major (the great dog, sometimes styled as Orion's hunting dog), whence its cognomen "the dog star". The most commonly used proper name of this star comes through the Latin "Sirius", from the Greek Σείριος ("Seirios", "glowing" or "scorcher"). The ancient Greeks observed that the appearance of Sirius heralded the hot and dry "dog days" of summer, and feared that
MV Sirius Star ever to be hijacked. It is estimated that for the pirates to reach "Sirius Star", they must have voyaged south for three to four days. At the time of the attack, the ship was carrying a full load of of crude oil more than one-quarter of Saudi Arabia's daily oil production output, and worth at least and was bound for the United States via the Cape of Good Hope. According to officials from Puntland, the pirates anchored "Sirius Star" at the Somali port of Harardhere, contrary to early reports from the United States Navy that she was anchored near Eyl.