Mysteries of Sirius

'Sirius: Brightest Diamond in the Night Sky' by Jay B. Holberg

Sirius, the Dog Star, is the brightest star in sky and its scintillating brilliance makes it a striking feature of the northern winter sky. Over the centuries, and throughout all cultures of the world, myths and legends grew up around this star making it one of the most venerated and respected of aspects of cosmology. In 'Sirius: Brightest Diamond in the Night Sky' its author Jay B Holberg offers a fascinating and definitive look at the star including recent observations and insights offered by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Book Details

• Title: Sirius: Brightest Diamond in the Night Sky
  Author: Jay B. Holberg
  Publisher: Springer-Praxis
  IBSN: 0 387 48941 X
  Year of Publication: 2007
  Amazon-US: Sirius: Brightest Diamond by Jay B Holberg

Book Synopsis

Of all the 'fixed stars' in the night sky, Sirius is by far the brightest - its flashing brilliance makes it a striking feature of the northern winter sky. Over the centuries, many myths and legends grew up around the Dog Star. Some fell into obscurity, but many more have survived into modern times. 'Sirius: Brightest Diamond in the Night Sky' offers a fascinating and definitive look at the star, including recent observations by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Contents of 'Sirius: Brightest Diamond in the Night Sky' by Jay B. Holberg

• Acknowledgements, Introduction, List of Figures, Abbreviations and Acronyms
• PART ONE - Ancient Sirius
• 1. The Goddess and the Eastern Horizon
• 2. The Dog Star
• PART TWO - The Nature of the Stars
• 3. From Myth to Reality
• 4. A Dark Star Prophesied
• 5. A Dark Star Revealed
• PART THREE - The Physics of the Stars
• 6. An Odd Pair
• 7. Giants Among the Dwarfs
• 8. A Matter of Degeneracy
• 9. Einstein's Well
• PART FOUR - A Controversial and Occult Sirius
• 10. A Red Sirius
• 11. Modern Mysteries
• PART FIVE - A Contemporary and Future Sirius
• 12. A View From Space
• 13. Past, Present and Future
• APPENDICES

Our Review of 'Sirius: Brightest Diamond in the Night Sky' by Jay B. Holberg

Being the brightest star in the night sky Sirius has excited and enticed observers for many thousands of years.

One of those fascinated by the Dog Star is Jay Holberg who has written a cracking account of the star from an essentially scientific background. His work as a senior research scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Observatory of the University of Arizona, along with his contacts in the scientific community, has enabled him to create what is the most definitive account of the astronomical Sirius to date.

The Sirius enigma does cross many boundaries and has been written about and researched from many different angles. Nevertheless there was room for an authoritative account of the triple star system and its importance from the point of view of astronomers.

Recent advances in radio telescopes, and most significantly the amazing results of the Hubble Telescope, has opened us up to a completely new vision of Sirius. Once dubbed the Red Star it is now perceived in all is splendor of electric blues.

The only criticism that I would make of this book is that it is sometimes heavy going for a non-astronomically minded reader. Indeed some of the material seems rather unconnected to the main subject matter.

Nevertheless 'Sirius: Brightest Diamond in the Night Sky' contains many Sirian related photographs and diagrams so readers' attention is maintained through the books' 'sticky patches'.

What is of particular interest in this book is that an expert from the scientific field has also taken time to document many of the mystical, esoteric and cultural off-shoots to the subject. Whilst many Sirian followers will already be well aware of the mysteries of the Dogon and the work of Robert Temple it is encouraging to see them repeated here and as a result made available to a wider audience.

All in all, 'Sirius: The Brightest Diamond in the Night Sky', is an essential read for anyone with a deep interest in the esoteric mysteries of the Dog Star. In many ways it offers so much critical evidence to support the widespread theory that the mysteries that surround the star Sirius are the most complex and astounding of this or any era.

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