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 Al-Jawza' (Sirius), which a group of Arabs used to worship." The alternate name "Aschere", used by Johann Bayer, is derived from this. In theosophy, it is believed the "Seven Stars of the Pleiades" transmit the spiritual energy of the Seven Rays from the "Galactic Logos" to the "Seven Stars of the Great Bear", then to Sirius. From there is it sent via the Sun to the god of Earth (Sanat Kumara), and finally through the seven Masters of the Seven Rays to the human race. The Dogon people are an ethnic group in Mali, West Africa, reported by some researchers