UPDATE:  SOLVED by Bill at 12:23

Bonjour!  Ça va?

What did you think about the way the clues were presented on the bonus riddle?  I had fun with those; so I thought I would slip a few in the weekly riddles now and then.  After seeing how the clues worked once, I don’t think anyone will have any major difficulties with them in the future.  Don’t worry; I’m not planning on blasting you out of the water with them.  Just a few, every now and then.  A lot of you really underestimate yourselves, you know?

Okay!  Are you ready to tackle this week’s scintillating brain teaser?  One for the money… two for the show… three to get ready… and four to GO!

Piero di Cosimo, "Death of Procris"

Although this is well-represented in SciFi, look in the real world for the answer to this riddle.

But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?

You think of this as one thing, but it’s not.

Flag of Brazil

There was a large body of superstition built up around this; and some people truly feared it.

This was known to our ancestors, who used it (among other things) as a means of divination.

“… but when the hot days come, I think they might remember that those are the dog days, and leave a little water outside in a trough, like they do for the horses.”

Map of Nile Delta around the time of Herodotus, James Rennell, published ca 1800-1830 -- This has an excellent enlargement, by the way

There is an interesting paradox closely associated with this in Greek mythology.

Not so long ago, seeing this in time could save your life.

It was associated with life, but it was also associated with death.

Orion - engraving by Johann Bayer 1603

You’ll run across this when studying proper motion and radial velocities.

You can see this in the North, you can see it in the South.  You can see it during the day, you can see it at night.  You can see it in the morning, you can see it in the evening.

A Lockheed Tingmissartoq Sea Plane - the name is Inuit for "one who flies like a large bird"

There!  I bet you’re not in the least confused.  Let me know what you think — or if you’re not thinking, come over to the comments and keep me company.