Orion easy to hunt down in winter night sky

William Atkins
Saturday, 17 January 2009 20:05

Science - Space

The faint star Meissa is considered the head of Orion, while Betelgeuse is his right shoulder, Bellatrix his left shoulder, Saiph, his right knee, and Rigel is left knee.

Rigel, sometimes called “The Left Leg of the Giant,” is a blue-white supergiant star that is about thirty-six thousand times brighter than the Sun. It is about 773 light-years away from the Sun.

Betelgeuse, sometimes called “The Armpit of the Giant,” is a red supergiant that is approximately 522 light-years away from the Sun.

It is an irregularly pulsating star, changing its diameter so that it is sometimes 550 times the Sun’s diameter, while at other times it is over 900 times its width.

Hanging from the belt of Orion is his sword, which is made up of the star cluster Trapezium and the Orion Nebula, which consists of a whirling cloud (nebula) of stars, gas, and dust. The star Hatsya is considered the tip of Orion’s sword.

A list of the stars that make up Orion is found on the Wikipedia website.

Additional information on the stars that make up Orion is found on the SkyScrpipt.co.uk website "Sky Lore of the Constellations: Orion."

A history of Orion is found on Ian Ridpath’s Star Tales website “Orion The Hunter.”

For more information on Orion, please go to the website of the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) “Orion” and the website of the Museum Victoria “Sky Tour for Binoculars: Orion.”