+Þ>F@šÙšHHØ(ÿáÿâùFG(üHHØ(d'`xxxx€šCÔ`šÿOrion ÿ`š  ÿKatie King ÿ€šLÔ š€šLÔš G If you use your imagination and look up on a clear night, you can see š Kmany constellations. One of the major ones you will see is, Orion. Orion š Kis a hunter and dominates the winter sky. Each constellation has it's own š Lstory of the purpose it is in the sky. Orion's mythic tales have been past š Hdown from the Hittites, they flourished from the Second Millennium BC. š LSince these tales have been past on for so long there are several varations š Fto the stories. One of the stories of Orion goes something like this:š D "Orion was a handsome and famous hunter. Apollo thought Orion had š Mdesigns on his sister, Artemis. So Apollo told the Earth Goddess of Orion's š Jboast. The Earth Goddess sent the deadly scorpion on its mission. Orion š Eengaged the scorpion in battle but he quickly realized its armor was š Gimpervious to any mortal's attack. Orion jumped into the sea and swam š Itowards Delos. But, Apollo had seen Orion's struggle with the scorpion, š Hand would not let him escape so easily. He then challenged his sister, š DArtemis, who had an awesome shot, if she could hit that small black š Mobject far out in the sea, the head--he told her-- of a treacherous villain. š L Artemis struck the object on her first shot, then swan out to retrieve her š Kvictim's corpse. She discovered that she had killed Orion. Artemis tried š Ito get the gods to restore his life, but Zeus objected. So, Artemis put š MOrion's image in the heavens. In Orion's eternal hunting, he is kept well a š Ghead of the scorpion. In fact, Orion has disappeared over the horizon š Kbefore Scorpio rises in the east, as it becomes his turn to rule the night š sky." (Dibon-Smith 1-2)š E For you to be able to see Orion in the sky, just look for the three š Istars that form a straight line. These three stars are known as Orion's š KBelt. The "belt" is across the middle of Orion and is formed by the three š Lstars: east to west- Mintkaka, Alnilam, and Alnitak. These three stars are š Jthe constellation's main feature and the Bible talks about these stars as š Hwell. God was pointing out how all-powerful he was and asked Job if he š 4was able to "loose the cords of Orion" (Job 38:31).š C There are many other important stars that make up Orion as well, š KThere are three other stars that you can see from Earth with the nakedeye, š Kand make up the important parts in Orion. Above the belt and to the left, š Cis the shoulder of Orion. The star that makes up that shoulder is š KBetelgeuse. Betelgeuse glows with a dull red color, because it is in it's š Nlast years life. This stage is called the "Red Giant" stage. Although it is š Lless bright , it is much larger. It is estimated at around 250 Suns. That š Emeans if it were to be our sun, it would completely engulf Earth and š extend to Mars.š H Orion's other shoulder is formed by Bellatrix and it's to the right of š KBetelgeuse. Rigel is the brightest star seen from Earth, except our Sun. š BEven though it seems so bright from here, it ranks seventh as the š Kbrightest star in the heavens. Rigel is new and is a blue-white star. It š Nrepresents Orion's left foot and is south of Alnitak. Under the belt and to š Jthe west of his foot is the Orion Nebuls. It is a "fuzzy patch that is a š Ediffused and convoluted cloud that is surrounding a small cluster of š 9stars." (Zeilik 251) A nebula is where stars are born.š H Although I haven't talked about each star that is in the constellation š JOrion, I have tried to tell you about the main important ones so that you š Kcan go out and see him on your own. Face the southern sky through out the š Mwinter and look for Betelgeuse, the reddish star; Rigel, the brightest star; š Hthen look for the three belt stars that form a line. Orion is standing š Lfacing us, his left arm is extended and is holding a bow, and his right arm š /is extended up from Betelgeuse, holding a club.š H Orion is the most magnificent of them all. He is a true Hunter as you š Ican tell by him holding up his club and having his bow in front of him. š @Orion is said to be fighting Taurus the Bull, it's the V-shaped š Jconstellation in front of Orion. Orion also has his two faithful hunting š Jdogs at his side. If you follow the belt stars to the west that leads to š NSirius, it's the brightest om the constellation Canis Major, or the Big Dog. š KAnd if you look to the noth of Canis Major you can see two stars that make š La line, that's Canis Minor, or the Little Dog. This concludes the story of š Orion.