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 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