Belt of Orion - constellation and legend

The stars have long attracted humanity, attracted to itself beauty, mystery and mystery. In religions of different nations they were given special significance, considering that their location can influence the fate of a person, heroes of myths and legends also found shelter in the starry sky. One of the most famous constellations on the night sky is Orion - the most beautiful constellation, which is located to the south of the equator, on the southern part of the sky. The ancient Egyptians gave him the name "king of the stars", and considered the constellation the house of the god Osiris. It is easy to recognize by asterism. The Orion Belt is three bright stars, which seem to be on a straight line, decorating the clothes of a giant hunter.

The legend, which found its reflection in the night sky, is contradictory. According to one version of the brave hunter, the son of Poseidon, Orion pursued the Pleiades sisters. To stop it, the goddess Artemis sent Scorpio, who inflicted a deadly bite to the hunter. After the death Orion was placed in the sky by his father Poseidon. According to another version Orion is chasing along with his hunting Big Dog behind the Hare, and this episode is imprinted in the star chart. This is the legend describing the belt of Orion, the confirmation of which can be seen in the outlines of the constellation.

It is one of the most noticeable on the night sky, thanks to the fact that it combines many bright stars. Five of them belong to the stars of the second magnitude, four to the third magnitude and two to the first (this is the blue-white Rigel and the red Betelgeuse). Both Rigel and Betelgeuse are supergiants. Rigel exceeds our diameter in diameter thirty-three times. He is at a distance of more than five hundred light-years from us, and the light of the star that we see now was radiated by her at the time Columbus discovered America.

Another bright star entering Orion's belt is Betelgeuse, whose name is translated from the ancient Arabic as "the shoulder of a giant". This star is four times the diameter of the sun. Close to Rigel there is a star that seems muddy and blurred. Around it you can see a foggy spot in the telescope. This is the Orion Nebula, which is a cloud of glowing gas. From it could turn out ten thousand stars, such as our sun. The nebula is one thousand three hundred light-years away. There is another nebula in the constellation of Orion. It is called the "Horse Head", because the gas-dust cloud looks like a stallion's head.

Knowingly the constellation Orion's belt is considered the most beautiful in the starry sky. When Orion rises above the horizon, you can observe seven bright stars that form a hexagon. They are Pollux, Capella, Sirius, Procyon, Aldebaran and Rigel. In the middle of the constellation stands bright Betelgeuse. Ancient people saw in the outlines of stars the armed with a club of hunter Orion. There are three bright stars entering the Orion belt, bearing Arabic names. This Alnilam - "pearl belt", Mintaka - "belt" and Alnitak - "kushak". The constellation of Orion is still remarkable in that from it, from below and to the right, is an area in which there are no bright stars, and it is the opposite of the bright belt of Orion. Here are the constellations, whose names are associated with the water: the Whale, Pisces, the Eridan River and Aquarius.

The best time, when the Orion Belt is most clearly seen in the sky, are the winter months - December and January. Observe the constellation is possible throughout Russia.