Use Orion’s stars to find other celestial delights
Rising above the eastern horizon at nightfall is a constellation familiar to both casual and avid stargazers – Orion, the hunter. During the winter months it is well placed in the southern sky giving us a chance to explore its celestial bounty.
Orion’s position on the celestial equator makes its hourglass pattern visible from most parts of the world prompting many cultures to create stories about this conspicuous constellation.
In ancient Egypt, the star pattern was associated with Osiris god of death and the underworld. Some claim that the layout of the pyramids at Giza is an earthbound mirror image of Orion’s belt stars. According to Chinese tradition, the belt stars are the Three Stars Mansion a domain of the White Tiger. A Latin American name for the asterism is Las Tres Marias. Star lore from France, South Africa and Holland share a common name for the belt stars – the three kings. In Finland, sky watchers link Orion with the scythe of potent and magical figure Väinämöinen because the constellation returns to the night sky during autumn harvest.
One story from Greek mythology tells of Orion’s affair with Artemis, goddess of the Moon. Angered by the relationship her twin brother Apollo, sends a giant scorpion to kill Orion. Orion subdues the scorpion but during the struggle, he is stung and fatally wounded. Distraught by the loss of her lover, Artemis appeals to Zeus for help. Zeus takes pity on Orion’s fate by casting him into the stars to live forever. Zeus’ favorable treatment of a mortal generates protests from Apollo. So, to make things even and with a mind to avoid future conflict, Zeus cleverly places the scorpion in the sky on the opposite side of the heavens. This arrangement explains why we never see the constellations Orion and Scorpius sharing the night sky.
The brightest stars of Orion are as much as eight hundred light years distant. Its most famous object can be found in the dagger stars below the belt. To the unaided eye, the dagger stars appear to be three dim points of light. But if you look at the middle star through a small telescope or binoculars, you will see a hazy patch of light. This region is the Great Orion nebula, the closest stellar nursery to our solar system. A recent distance estimate places it at 1,300 light years away. The nebula is part of the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex, a giant collection of interstellar gas and dust that fuels star formation and hosts a variety of other kinds of nebulae like the Horsehead Nebula.
Orion will be a constant presence as it crosses the southern night sky from now into early May. You can use its brightest stars to find your way to other constellations including Taurus, the bull and Orion’s hunting dogs Canis Major and Canis Minor. Below is a chart showing how you can use Orion’s stars to navigate your way around the night sky. Good Hunting!
Click the thumbnail for a larger version:
