The Orion Constellation is probably one of the most well known and easily recognizable constellations in the night sky, easily spotted even by those who are not star-struck. Also known as the hunter, he stands proudly in the sky with his belt of three stars in a line shining brightly.
Orion has a fascinating story with roots in Greek mythology. You can observe Orion in both the northern and southern hemispheres, even with the naked eye.
Orion is a popular constellation for amateur astronomers as it offers one of the brightest stars in the sky — Rigel, a blue-white supergiant 1.
Like most constellations, Orion is made up of numerous stars, nebulae, and deep sky objects. When observed from planet Earth, the constellation looks as if all the objects lie on the same plane.
In fact, each object is at a different distance from the earth. To give some idea, the brightest star in Orion is Rigel, which is light-years away from Earth. The Orion Nebula is located light-years away. Taking into account the celestial objects and their individual distances, the average distance of Orion from the Earth is light-years. The Constellation Orion is a large bold hunter , standing in the sky with his arm raised, ready to slay any creature that comes close to him!
Once you locate the belt — the Hunter comes to life. Give it a try. Remember that in the southern hemisphere, the Hunter stands upside-down. The earliest known history of Orion the Hunter Constellation goes as far back as years. The Hunter was documented in a prehistoric Aurignacian ivory carving. The carving was discovered in a cave in the Ach valley in West Germany in Babylonian star records, which were created around BC in the Late Bronze Age, also showed the Orion origin as a hunter in the sky.
In ancient Egypt, around BC, astronomers identified the constellation as the God Sah or Sahu, who was swallowed by the underworld. The stars in the dense Orion cluster were thought to have been formed in the last 3 million years 4. This is the path that the sun takes as it moves across the sky during the year. Orion lies to the south of the Ecliptic path and is not crossed by the sun. The Orion constellation story does have an interesting link to Scorpio, the 8th sign of the Zodiac and one of the Zodiac constellations.
In the sky, he stands facing the Bull, and it appears as if he is about to do battle with this creature. Some Orion stars are brighter than others and many are identified for their unique attributes. The famous belt of Orion is made up of three 3 stars, Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka. Mintaka is the western-most star and is a multiple star system about light-years away.
Alnitak is the eastern-most star and is made up of a star system of 3 blue supergiants. Alnilam is the middle star of the belt; It is a young star, only 5. When new stars begin to form, they also throw out the gas, which forms into nebulae 8. The Trapezium is a dense open cluster of stars located in the middle of the Orion Nebula. Galileo Galilei discovered it in Exoplanets are of great interest as they may very well have similar conditions to our Earth and hence the possibility of life.
Orbiting this star is a gas giant which they named CVSO 30c. The bow is parallel to his body and is slightly further from Orion than the width of his shoulders. The midpoint of the bow is shoulder height and the bow spans from his hip height to slightly above his head. There are a variety of stories related to Orion from Greek mythology. It is thought that the poem was passed on for several centuries through oral tradition before it was first written in the 6 th century BC.
Although there area a variety of conflicting stories, tales of Orion in mythology, revolve around him being the greatest hunter to ever exist. He was said to carry a solid bronze club and be capable of hunting any wild animal. Orion was a prominent figure of Greek legends similar to Hercules and many stories came to reference him as the archetype of the great huntsmen. According to the Hesiod, Orion is the son of Poseidon.
As the son of Poseidon he could walk on water and crossed the sea to the island of Chios. He travelled to Helios the sun god and had his sight returned. Later when hunting with Artemis, the Greek goddess of hunting he claimed he would hunt every animal on earth.
Gaia, the god of the earth then sent a giant scorpion to kill Orion to prevent him from killing all the animals of earth. Several constellations adjacent to Orion have come to incorporate a narrative that ties these constellations together. The hare is said to be pursued by his dogs on a hunt. The bull of Taurus is said to be in battle with Orion. Orion is said to have been killed by the sting of a giant scorpion, and Scorpius is the stellar representative of this scorpion.
The star is light years from earth. It is a blue supergiant 2 million times the size of the sun. Rigel forms part of the winter hexagon asterism. Betelguese is light years from earth.
It is a red supergiant almost 2 billion times the size of the sun. Betelguese is among the largest stars visible to the naked eye and if it were in the location of the sun would engulf Earth as well as Mercury, Venus and Mars. The name Jauzah was the Arabic name for the hunter Orion. Betelguese forms part of the winter triangle. Betelguese marks the right shoulder of Orion. It is times the size of the sun.
Bellatrix marks the left shoulder of Orion. It is , times the size of the sun. Alnilam marks the central belt buckle of Orion. It is a triple star system led by a blue supergiant 33, times the size of the sun. It is 45, times the size of the sun. Saiph marks the right foot of Orion. It is a multi star system led by a giant 19, times the size of the sun.
It is a double star system led by a giant 4, times the size of the sun. Meissa marks the head of Orion. In late November, Orion appears to be lying on his side, with the three stars of the belt pointing upward, in the Northern Hemisphere. Orion's Belt is a helpful asterism for finding the constellation it is part of, Orion, but it is also useful for finding other notable stars in the sky. There are three bright stars you can find using Orion's Belt to guide you.
First, you can use Orion's Belt to find Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. Sirius is just 8. Continue from Orion's Belt drawing a straight line until you reach a bright star — that's Sirus. Another noticeable star you can find using Orion's Belt is Aldebaran, a red giant star located in the constellation Taurus. To identify Aldebaran, follow Orion's Belt in the opposite direction from east to west from how you identified Sirius. Aldebaran has a reddish hue to help you know you're looking at the right star.
Last, but certainly not least, you can use Orion's Belt to identify two other bright stars in the constellation Orion: Betelgeuse and Rigel. Betelgeuse, another reddish star is usually the tenth-brightest star in the night sky it's also a variable star so it sometimes dims and loses that spot on the list , whereas Rigel is a blue supergiant and ranks No. To find each one, look to the north of Orion's Belt to spot Betelgeuse, and equally distant to the south to find Rigel.
Note: These directions work if you are viewing Orion's Belt in the Northern Hemisphere, facing south. While Orion's Belt looks like three stars, it actually comprises six stars!
Alnilam is a supergiant, Mintaka is a double star and Alnitak is a triple-star system. Below Vega is the twelfth brightest star called Altair which is part of the constellation Aquila. The third star in the triangle is Deneb. Deneb nineteenth in brightness is part of the constellation Cygnus. Look for the cross inside the triangle. Low in the summer sky is the constellation Scorpius.
More than any other constellation the scorpion resembles its name. The brightest star is a reddish star called Antares. Pegasus is rising in the east and bringing in the fall constellations. Click on the tab for the fall. Leo is setting in the west with the spring constellations. Click on the tab for spring. The Big Dipper in the constellation Ursa Major is in the northwest. Taurus is rising in the east and bringing in the winter constellations.
Click on the tab for the winter. Cygnus is setting in the west with the summer constellations. Click on the tab for summer. Draw an imaginary line through the belt stars to the lower left and you will reach the brightest star in Canis Major called Sirius. You cannot miss it. Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Sirius also belongs to the Winter Triangle. Procyon is the brightest star in Canis Minor which is found to the left of Orion.
To complete the triangle, use the top left shoulder star in Orion.
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