#3 Bobby. Thanx! You made my day!

I’m still laughing on that one; would make a great T-Shirt.

Gary 7

*Wiki “Dogon People”. I’m reaching, I know.

Why not? Sirius is a great name for a dog.

I had a dog named Sirius once – the last one before the dog I have now actually – she was a staffy, great dog that I got from the pound, they named her “Nell” but she got renamed by me with her full name being Sirius Dogstar Nell.

I’ve also named my cat – a black & golden tortoiseshell – Zosma after Delta Leonis – see :

http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/zosma.html

& a former family dog Tycho after Tycho Brahe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tycho_Brahe

Nor am I alone as Olaf Stapledon, a great early science fiction author used Sirius as a dog name here :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirius_(novel)

too in this great eponymous novel.

Finally, I could be wrong here, & please correct me if so, but I think the Bad Astronomer’s dog(s) actually has a different name & “Canis Major” is just its web pseudonym, right?

Glad your dog is Infra-red seeking rather than seeking X-rays, Gamma rays or microwaves!

@4. Zucchi Says:

In some homes, they don’t even let the dog get on the bed. Cruel, cruel masters.

While in others they do.

I’ve always been a real softie where pets (& animals generally) are concerned and the cats and dogs that own me always get to sleep on my bed. Which is fine with little dogs such as my Jack-Russell cross Fox terrier but when I’m minding a laborador that also wants to sleep on my bed .. &, of course, I’ve got to be fair & so if one dog gets to do it they all can.. So I woke up one memorable morning with my dog and my cat and the labrador all on the bed with me leaving not much room at all!

@13. Joseph G : Thanks for that info – I didn’t know that. Neat.

Speaking of cats and heat, I recently adopted a two kittehs, one of which is at least half Siamese (it has Siamese markings). I learned an interesting factoid: The gene that’s responsible for the Siamese’ distinctive coat pattern is actually a temperature-sensitive form of albinism. That’s why the middle of the cat is light-colored and the extremities, nose and ears are dark.
Unfortunately, IR images of cats* don’t illustrate this very well, thanks to the insulation afforded by the cat’s fur. In IR, the nose, ears, etc appear warm as they lose more heat, even though they’re slightly cooler then the cat’s core. But a Siamese cat’s fur color can still be thought of (roughly) as an average temperature map of the cat’s skin. Cool, eh?
And yes, the colors can change over time. If they become extremely obese, the extra “insulation” will cause their core to darken. In hot weather, a Siamese’ coat will lighten, as well.

*As you might imagine, Googling “IR cat picture” gets you a LOT of lolcats (eg “I R serious cat”)

(or is that Where-cat?)

LOL!!