The heliacal rising of Sirius is the yearly occurrence when the brightest star, Sirius, becomes visible in the sky

That happens around August each year, and the specific day depends on the geographic latitude and the year

On that particular day, Sirius becomes visible for the first time for a few seconds shortly before sunrise in the morning at the eastern horizon

That day was an essential event for ancient Egyptian civilization, as it indicated the beginning of their new year

A few temples were aligned to that location on the horizon where Sirius appears for the first time each year; most prominently, the Hathor Temple at Dendera, near Luxor

Also, the southern shaft in the Queen's Chamber of the Great Pyramid at Giza is considered, with its 38° angle, to be related to Sirius

Specifically, its upper culmination angle, the maximum elevation above the local horizon it reaches, matches that angle at the time when the pyramid is assumed to have been built.

Heliacal Rise shows with a camera view and an overlaid visual compass indicator the horizon locations of Sirius's heliacal rising and setting, along with dates and times

The built-in calculation automatically adjusts to the phone's location

Still, it can also be switched to manual location mode so you can view the heliacal rising for any location on Earth.

With version 2, the map view is built in when running on iOS/iPadOS 17 and newer, showing the heliacal rising and setting directions overlaid as lines on a global satellite image map for any location on Earth at any year down to 13000 BC into the past.

It also shows for Sirius the time and elevation above the local horizon of its yearly midnight culmination on New Year's Day

That's special for the star Sirius to reach its highest nightly location above the horizon at midnight between December 31, 23:45, and January 1, 0:15, depending on geographic location, timezone, and year

Every star has its day of the midnight culmination, but they are distributed throughout the year, and only the Sirius Midnight Culmination occurs at midnight into the New Year.

The heliacal rising azimuth and date and the midnight culmination altitude above the horizon can now be viewed at the time of the Great Pyramid construction and further into to past to 13000 BC.

If you'd like to see the rising locations of other stars, please let me know which ones

Also contact me, if you have suggestions about other interesting features to add.