Dog days in 1995; Florence and the Machine's 2009 "Dog Days Are Over"; and Within Temptation's 2013 "Dog Days". "Dog-day" promotions are also a common feature in baseball, used by American ballparks to boost ticket sales during mid-afternoon games. Dog days The dog days or are the hot, sultry days of summer. They were historically the period following the heliacal rising of the star system Sirius, which Greek and Roman astrology connected with heat, drought, sudden thunderstorms, lethargy, fever, mad dogs, and bad luck. They are now taken to be the hottest, most uncomfortable part of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. The
Sirius hemispheres. Just as the appearance of Sirius in the morning sky marked summer in Greece, it marked the onset of winter for the Māori, whose name "Takurua" described both the star and the season. Its culmination at the winter solstice was marked by celebration in Hawaii, where it was known as "Ka'ulua", "Queen of Heaven". Many other Polynesian names have been recorded, including "Tau-ua" in the Marquesas Islands, "Rehua" in New Zealand, and "Ta'urua-fau-papa" "Festivity of original high chiefs" and "Ta'urua-e-hiti-i-te-tara-te-feiai" "Festivity who rises with prayers and religious ceremonies" in Tahiti. The Hawaiian people had many names for Sirius, including