Orion

The three stars of the Belt

You can see it with your eyes

Orion — Three stars in a row make the Belt, four bright stars the rectangle around it.

Finding it in the sky

When to look

Evenings from November to May, looking south. In the heart of winter it is high and rules the first part of the night, while in spring it sinks lower and lower toward the west.

How to recognize it

Look for three stars close together, equally bright and set in a straight row: they are the Belt, and there is nothing else like them in the sky. Around them the rectangle of four bright stars then appears.

The main stars

BetelgeuseAlfa Orionis
RigelBeta Orionis
BellatrixGamma Orionis
MintakaDelta Orionis
AlnilamEpsilon Orionis
AlnitakZeta Orionis
SaiphKappa Orionis

To get an idea

The three stars of the Belt are the only line this even in the whole sky.

Orion sits across the celestial equator: it can be seen from almost every inhabited place on Earth.

Fun facts

These are not in the book: there was no room on paper.

In very good conditions you can count about one hundred thirty stars of the constellation with no instrument.
In different countries the three stars of the Belt are called the Three Kings, the rake or the three merchants.
For the Sumerians, the name of this constellation meant the light of heaven.
According to one idea, the three pyramids of Giza were built following the line of the Belt.
In the myth the hunter was killed by a scorpion, and in the sky the two stand on opposite sides.
When Scorpius rises in the east, the hunter is already escaping below the horizon in the west.

Test yourself

The first question is the one printed under the QR code, with the answer the book did not give. The other four only exist here.

Question 1 of 5★ is the one from your book

What is the sign that gives Orion away?

Question 2 of 5

What is the fuzzy dot in the Sword?

Question 3 of 5

Which is the brightest star of Orion?

Question 4 of 5

Where do you get by stretching the Belt?

Question 5 of 5

When do you watch Orion in the evening?

Riddles

I have a red, enormous shoulder and a blue, scorching knee. If my shoulder took the place of the Sun, it would swallow the Earth and Jupiter too. Who am I?

An animal with a stinger killed me in the legend, and ever since they keep us apart: when it rises on one side, I slip down on the other. Who am I?

Try it yourself

Activity 1

Point binoculars at the middle dot of the Sword. Instead of a star you will see a pale little cloud: it is a cloud of gas where new stars are born.

Activity 2

With your eyes, stretch the line of the Belt one way and then the other: on one side you meet Sirius, on the other Aldebaran. They are two stars of different colors.

The words

supergiant: An enormous star, much bigger and brighter than the Sun.
celestial equator: The line in the sky exactly above the Earth's equator.

Sources: Wikidata (Q8860), Wikipedia (Orione (costellazione)).