Welcome to Learn the Sky, your online resource for learning about the stars and constellations.
Welcome! My name is Janine, and in this video we're going to learn about the constellation known as
Orion the hunter. This is easily one of the most recognized star patterns in the
world. It can both be seen in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. This is a constellation
that I tell my students, you have to learn this one, because it acts as a guide to all the other
constellations surrounding it. It's represented as a hunter, and it's a very ancient constellation.
Orion is a star pattern that has the oldest known records of it. The artifact that has this
depiction of Orion is estimated to be 32,000 to 38, 000 years old. So it's named after Orion, which
was a figure in Greek mythology, he was a hunter. Orion can be seen throughout the world because
it's located right along the celestial equator. If we were to point out where Orion is, that's what
the star pattern looks like at least a portion of it. Most people recognize Orion as these main
seven stars. What's really great about these seven stars is that they're a similar magnitude.
It really makes it easy to find in the sky. When can you see it?
Remember here at Learn the Sky, I always teach from the perspective of the Northern Hemisphere,
because that's where I live. I have never seen Orion from the Southern Hemisphere.
But for the Northern Hemisphere, it's best seen in the winter months, and you want to look
for the belt stars asterism. This, of course, is one of the most recognized star patterns in the
sky. As I said, each of these main stars are of similar magnitude. And I found out a really
fun fact about this constellation. All these seven main stars are expected to become
supernovae which is really, really cool. There are some other things that really stand out in
this constellation as well. The Great Orion Nebula is right underneath those belt stars.
And there are some well-known stars such as Betelgeuse or some pronounce it Betlejuice or Beetlejuice.
I was taught that it was pronounced Betelgeuse, so that's my
default pronunciation of it. Then also Rigel, right here, is another really bright blue star.
Now we'll take a look at the star pattern that Orion makes across the sky.
Here we have the official star map of Orion released by the International Astronomical Union.
The things I want to point out to you are to show you how Orion can be a guide to everything
surrounding it in the sky. So here you can see the belt stars. This is the best way to find Orion.
Look for these three stars in a row. You can use these stars to point down to Canis
Major, which is this bright star is known as Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky.
And then you can also use the belt stars to point up towards Taurus, right here. Taurus
is represented as a bull. If you want to learn more about that constellation go see that video.
Then you can use Rigel and Betelgeuse. If you draw an imaginary line through those two bright stars,
it'll lead you to Gemini. If you do the opposite knee and shoulder star you have Saiph here and
Bellatrix. Draw an imaginary line up this direction you will find Auriga. You can also use the two
shoulder stars to guide you towards Monocerous which is known as the unicorn, a super faint
constellation. I've got a video on that. Be sure to see more about that video and the links posted
below. But you can also use the shoulder stars if you go past Monocerous. Over in this direction is
where you would find Canis Minor. So if you can find Orion in the sky, you can find everything
else. So let's get some practice with how to find Orion. So first, we've seen this picture before.
Here is where Orion is. You can see the belt stars, you can see the sword of Orion. You use
the belt stars to point towards Aldebaran which is the bright star Antares. Here's the v-shaped
face of Tarus and then here's the Pleiades. This is a planet that is traveling through Taurus
because it is a zodiacal constellation. So remember zodiacal constellations are ones in
which the sun, moon, and stars pass through. Let's get another view of Taurus because,
remember, the more pictures you see the better you can get at identifying these constellations.
And in this one you can see also another familiar star pattern known as the Winter Triangle.
The Winter Triangle is not a constellation but an asterism. I've got
a whole video on that so be sure to go see that video. But an asterism is really another
shape or pattern, either within a constellation or made up of bright stars of constellations.
And you can use it to find other constellations in the sky. So here we have Orion, down here is
Sirius that's the bright star in the constellation known as Canis Major, and then here is Procyon or
procyon. I've heard it pronounced both ways. And this small two-star constellation
is known as Canis Minor. These are the hunting dogs of Orion. So again. If we were to use Orion
as a guide to the sky, this is what I teach all of my students, you can use the shoulders to point to
Canis Minor, you can use the belt to point to Canis Major, right in this arena is Monocerous,
the unicorn constellation, a modern day constellation. Then here if you use these two
stars to point to Gemini, this points to Auriga and then this points to Taurus. So I will say it again.
If you can find Orion, you can find all the other winter constellations in the Northern Hemisphere.
I've got a few more pictures for us to review because of course practice makes perfect.
Here we have Orion and we have Canis Major, Orion's hunting dog. There's also
another constellation called Lepus the hare. If we were to point these out, here is
where they are. So we've got Orion right here, here is Lepus. This is known as the hare.
Then we have Canis Major here. You can also see some of the Milky Way right here. It's pretty
faint in the background but it is there. Orion is that constellation that I have no
shortage of pictures. In
this picture you should see Orion, you should see Canis Minor, and then you should see a portion of
Canis Major but really only that bright star. And can you see that winter asterism triangle,
or Winter Triangle asterism, I should say. If we were to keep going, I've got more pictures.
This is another gorgeous photo because what really shines through is the color of the stars which
most of the main stars are blue . But Betelgeuse is an orangish colored star . You can also see
some of the celestial objects that are shining through in this long exposure photograph as well.
Now Orion is not only a part of the asterism known as the Winter Triangle, but there's also
another asterism it's a part of called the Winter Hexagon. If you connect some of the brightest
stars in the winter sky, it makes these different star patterns. So here we have all the different
constellations that are within the winter sky and you can see there's a lot. Here we've got
Taurus; Auriga; Gemini; Canis Minor; Monocerous, a super faint constellation; Canis Major; and
Lepus. So the winter triangle, remember, is a useful asterism that connects these three constellations
in the sky. If we were to point it out, that's where it's located. The three constellations it
connects is Orion, Canis Major, and canis Minor. The stars that are connected with the
Winter Triangle are these three, but we also have the Winter Hexagon here. I'm hoping you can
easily see the Winter Triangle. But the Winter Hexagon is where we're connecting all the other
constellations that have very bright stars. It's a very large asterism so it can actually be
challenging to point out because it is so large in the sky. Often times when
I'm stargazing there's either a mountain in the way or I'm surrounded by a rim of trees.
So if you want to find the Winter Hexagon you want to find like a wide open field to observe this in.
If we were to point out the Winter Hexagon, this is where it is located. It connects
all the brightest stars that can be seen in the winter sky in the Northern Hemisphere.
The stars include Pollux, we have Capella, we have Aldebaran, Rigel, Sirius, and Procyon. If we were
to point out where all those constellations are in the sky, here is where they're located.
The Winter Hexagon is a great asterism just to help you find other constellations in the
sky. One other trick that I use to really test my students if they know where Orion is
is I give them star trail pictures. So there's a few things you can see in this star trail picture.
Can you find the belt stars of Orion? Can you find the Winter Hexagon? Can you find Sirius,
the brightest star in the night sky? If we were to point all these things out, and I love giving
these to my students, because they're like how are we supposed to pick this out, but if you look
carefully you can just see kind of make those connections with the pattern. You already know
so here is where Orion is, you have the belt stars of Orion, you have Canis Minor right here, here's
Canis Major, and then right here is where you would connect the Winter Triangle. Let's get one
more shot here . Are you able to figure out where Orion is? Look for the belt stars. That's the key to
finding this constellation .Then can you find the Winter Triangle? So here's the belt stars and
then that's where the Winter Triangle would be. So this is like the ultimate test, if you really
really know your constellations use star trail pictures. I think Orion is really the
best one to do this with because the belt stars make these these three long star trail pictures.
Let's review some of the ancient mythologies that are associated with it. So first, the earliest
known records we have of any constellation is that of Orion. Here you can see the
Prehistoric Aurignacian Mammoth Ivory Carving that was found in a cave in 1979 in West Germany. Its
age estimate is between 32,000 to 38,000 years old. It's pretty small in size, but its proportions
of the figure are very similar to that of Orion. It has a very slim waist just like the belt stars.
Then here you can see the left leg is shorter and that is very similar to that of Orion.
After that we find record of Orion in the Babylonian Star Catalogs. Orion was represented
as the heavenly shepherd. The Babylonian Star Catalogs are really important for the recording
and timing of agricultural activities. It also recorded the path of the moon, the planets, and it had a
solar calendar. It really really was important for us to understand how the heavens move
so these agricultural activities could be timed. Many of these constellations on the Babylonian
star catalogs were predecessors of the zodiac constellations. Next we'll jump to Greek mythology,
which Orion was represented as the son of Poseidon and Artemis. One of the stories I discovered of
Orion, and keep in mind there are many stories of Orion. Artemis, the God of the moon and the hunt,
fell in love with Orion. Her twin, Apollo, dared his sister to hit Orion in the sea with her arrow,
but she wasn't unaware that this was Orion and it unfortunately killed him. When his body washed
ashore, she realized what she had done. In her grief, she placed his body in the sky along with
his hunting dogs. It is said that that is why the moon is cold and lifeless, because Artemis
lost the love of her life and was inconsolable. Orion, however, quickly recovered in the sky as
he chased the Pleiades, which were the seven beautiful nymphs in the constellation of Taurus.
In one myth that I found, Orion right here, fell in love with the Pleiades, the
seven sisters. The seven sisters were the daughters of Atlas and Pleione. He started pursuing
them, so Zeus scooped them up, place them in the sky, and the Pleiades are representative of these
seven sisters. It is said that Orion is still chasing them in the sky. Again these are only a
small portion of the mythological tales of Orion. Remember that the mythologies of the stars vary
according to time, place, and culture. There is no one true mythology for any constellation,
just a variety of them. We've come to the end of our video about Orion, so let's review everything
we've learned so far. Orion is represented as a hunter from Greek mythology. It's best seen
in the winter months in the Northern Hemisphere. It's classified as a seasonal constellation since
the moon, sun, and stars do not pass through it. The best way to find it is to look for the belt stars
and also the rectangular shape that these stars make as well. Orion is one of the most recognized
star patterns in the world. So to me, it's one of the easiest ones to find. There are a few celestial
objects that are located in the boundaries of this constellation such as the Orion Nebula, which
can be seen with the unaided eye. If you have an opportunity to look at it with binoculars, it
really is spectacular. There's also the horsehead nebula right here. I'll be having another video
come out about the celestial objects of this constellation. I wish you luck finding Orion.
To me, it's one of the easiest star patterns to find and one of the most important to know
because it points to all the other star patterns that surround it. Remember, it takes time, patience,
and practice to find the star patterns. I wish you luck and clear skies. Keep looking up!