Katie King
Katie King
If you use your imagination and look up on a clear night, you can see many constellations. One of the major ones you will see is, Orion. Orion is a hunter and dominates the winter sky. Each constellation has it's own story of the purpose it is in the sky. Orion's mythic tales have been past down from the Hittites, they flourished from the Second Millennium BC. Since these tales have been past on for so long there are several varations to the stories. One of the stories of Orion goes something like this:
"Orion was a handsome and famous hunter. Apollo thought Orion had designs on his sister, Artemis. So Apollo told the Earth Goddess of Orion's boast. The Earth Goddess sent the deadly scorpion on its mission. Orion engaged the scorpion in battle but he quickly realized its armor was impervious to any mortal's attack. Orion jumped into the sea and swam towards Delos. But, Apollo had seen Orion's struggle with the scorpion, and would not let him escape so easily. He then challenged his sister, Artemis, who had an awesome shot, if she could hit that small black object far out in the sea, the head--he told her-- of a treacherous villain. Artemis struck the object on her first shot, then swan out to retrieve her victim's corpse. She discovered that she had killed Orion. Artemis tried to get the gods to restore his life, but Zeus objected. So, Artemis put Orion's image in the heavens. In Orion's eternal hunting, he is kept well a head of the scorpion. In fact, Orion has disappeared over the horizon before Scorpio rises in the east, as it becomes his turn to rule the night sky." (Dibon-Smith 1-2)
For you to be able to see Orion in the sky, just look for the three stars that form a straight line. These three stars are known as Orion's Belt. The "belt" is across the middle of Orion and is formed by the three stars: east to west- Mintkaka, Alnilam, and Alnitak. These three stars are the constellation's main feature and the Bible talks about these stars as well. God was pointing out how all-powerful he was and asked Job if he was able to "loose the cords of Orion" (Job 38:31).
There are many other important stars that make up Orion as well, There are three other stars that you can see from Earth with the nakedeye, and make up the important parts in Orion. Above the belt and to the left, is the shoulder of Orion. The star that makes up that shoulder is Betelgeuse. Betelgeuse glows with a dull red color, because it is in it's last years life. This stage is called the "Red Giant" stage. Although it is less bright , it is much larger. It is estimated at around 250 Suns. That means if it were to be our sun, it would completely engulf Earth and extend to Mars.
Orion's other shoulder is formed by Bellatrix and it's to the right of Betelgeuse. Rigel is the brightest star seen from Earth, except our Sun. Even though it seems so bright from here, it ranks seventh as the brightest star in the heavens. Rigel is new and is a blue-white star. It represents Orion's left foot and is south of Alnitak. Under the belt and to the west of his foot is the Orion Nebuls. It is a "fuzzy patch that is a diffused and convoluted cloud that is surrounding a small cluster of stars." (Zeilik 251) A nebula is where stars are born.
Although I haven't talked about each star that is in the constellation Orion, I have tried to tell you about the main important ones so that you can go out and see him on your own. Face the southern sky through out the winter and look for Betelgeuse, the reddish star; Rigel, the brightest star; then look for the three belt stars that form a line. Orion is standing facing us, his left arm is extended and is holding a bow, and his right arm is extended up from Betelgeuse, holding a club.
Orion is the most magnificent of them all. He is a true Hunter as you can tell by him holding up his club and having his bow in front of him. Orion is said to be fighting Taurus the Bull, it's the V-shaped constellation in front of Orion. Orion also has his two faithful hunting dogs at his side. If you follow the belt stars to the west that leads to Sirius, it's the brightest om the constellation Canis Major, or the Big Dog. And if you look to the noth of Canis Major you can see two stars that make a line, that's Canis Minor, or the Little Dog. This concludes the story of Orion.
Zeilik, Michael. Conceptual Astronomy. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1993