Sirius
Sirius is the nearest star visible from the northern
hemisphere. Only 8.6 lightyears distant, it shines like a jewel in the
winter sky. It is a bright hot star of type A, 2.2 times as massive as
the sun, and 10.000°C hot. If an earth-like planet orbits this white-blue
star, it must be at least at 4 - 5 AU to remain at habitable temperatures.
This planet would be very young, since Sirius is only 300 million years
old. If the seed of life had a chance on this world, it could only produce
bacteria-like organisms. Nonetheless, since Sirius is so hot, it emits
much more UV radiation than our sun, forcing the creatures to produce UV-absorbing
pigments, giving the water a deep red colour.
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