As We Close The Book On Summer, What (And Exactly When) Are Those Dog Days?

A man in a red and blue plaid shirt sits on the grass with his dog on a leash. — Edgar B. Herwick III with his canine correspondent, Wesley O'Neil I.

Edgar B. Herwick III is the guy behind GBH’s Curiosity Desk, where he answers your questions and explores some of the everyday mysteries hiding in plain sight. Feedback? Questions? Story ideas? Reach out to Edgar at edgar_herwick@wgbh.org.

September 22, 2021

Updated July 03, 2023

Summer 2021 officially comes to a close Wednesday at around 3:30 p.m. with the autumnal equinox. Just like its springtime partner — the vernal equinox — there are roughly 12 hours of sunlight and 12 hours of darkness everywhere on the planet.

But that’s just one way of defining the season. There’s also the meteorological summer, which spans from June 1 to August 31, and ended this year nearly a week before Labor Day, which is — of course — the unofficial end of summer.

So between all these calendars, when, exactly, are the dog days of summer?

That’s a question we here at The Curiosity Desk spent a portion of our hottest season seeking an answer to. And while the inspiration for this phrase can indeed be found in our galaxy, it was coined a long time ago and far, far away.

WATCH: What (And When) Are The Dog Days Of Summer?

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