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
Sirius "Aa" ("glowing"), "Hoku-kauopae", "Kau-ano-meha" (also "Kaulanomeha"), "Standing-alone-and-sacred", "Hiki-kauelia" or "Hiki-kauilia" (the navigational name), "Hiki-kau-lono-meha" ("star of solitary Lono", the astrological name), "Kaulua" (also "Kaulua-ihai-mohai", "flower of the heavens"), "Hiki-kauelia", "Hoku-hoo-kele-waa" ("star which causes the canoe to sail", a marine navigation name), and "Kaulua-lena" ("yellow star"). The people of the Society Islands called Sirius variously "Taurua-fau-papa", "Taurua-nui-te-amo-aha", and "Taurua-e-hiti-i-tara-te-feiai". Other names for Sirius included "Palolo-mua" (Futuna), "Mere" (Mangaia), "Apura" (Manihiki), "Taku-ua" (Marquesas Islands), and "Tokiva" (Pukapuka). In the cosmology of the Tuamotus, Sirius had various names, including "Takurua-te-upuupu", "Te Kaha" ("coconut fibre"), "Te Upuupu", "Taranga", and "Vero-ma-torutoru" ("flaming and diminishing"). The