Orion
In astronomy and space we find:
Orion as a constellation is the head of a constellation family, located in the equatorial region of the sky and belongs certainly to the most famous constellations. It extends from RA=4h 40m to RA=6h 20m and DECL=+23 degrees to DECL=+8 degrees. In some ways the central part of this constellation reminds one of a oblique sand-glass. In wintertime Orion is a magnificent constellation which can easily be found by the the three stars forming a line building the belt of the Hunter. The belt stars point towards Sirius, the brightest star in the constellation of the Larger Dog, Canis Major, situated SE of Orion. From his belt there hangs a well defined deggar, which is known for one of the most famous nebulas in the sky: The Large Orion Nebula (M42).
The Sword of Orion - M42, M43, The Running Man, and NGC 1981
Around October 21 each year the famous Orionid meteor showers reach their peak.
Orion's Belt Stars NASA
Saiph - Kappa Orionis is at Orion's right knee
Hatsya is at the tip of Orion's sword.
Bellatrix Warrior Woman found at Orion's left shoulder
Meissa - Lambda Orionis - Orion's Head
Another famous nebula is IC 434, the Horse Head Nebula near Orionis. The Horsehead Nebula (also known as Barnard 33' in bright nebula IC 434) is a dark nebula in the Orion constellation. The nebula is located just below Alnitak, the easternmost star of Orion's Belt, and is part of the much larger Orion Molecular Cloud Complex. It is approximately 1,500 light years from Earth, and is approximately 3.5 light years wide. One of the most identifiable nebulae in the sky, it is part of a swirling cloud of dark dust and gases, shaped like a horse's head (hence its name). Also known as Barnard 33, the unusual shape was first discovered in 1888 by Mrs. Williamina Fleming on photographic plate B2312 taken at the Harvard College Observatory. The red glow originates from hydrogen gas predominantly behind the nebula, ionized by the nearby bright star Sigma Orionis. The darkness of the Horsehead is caused mostly by thick dust, although the lower part of the Horsehead's neck casts a shadow to the left. Streams of gas leaving the nebula are funneled by a strong magnetic field. Bright spots in the Horsehead Nebula's base are young stars just in the process of forming.
The configurations of the constellation Orion roughly formed about 1.5 million years ago, because of relative slow movements of stars within the constellation from earth's perspective (especially the belt of Orion), constellation Orion will remain visible in the night sky for the next 1 to 2 million years, making the constellation one of the longest observable constellation parallel to the rise of human civilization.
Being so bright and distinctive, the pattern of stars that form Orion were recognized as a coherent constellation by many ancient civilizations, though with different representations and mythologies.
The ancient Sumerians saw this star pattern as a sheep, while in ancient China, Orion was one of the 28 zodiac signs Xiu. Known as Shen its literally meaning is "three", it is believed to be named so for the three stars located in Orion's belt. Chinese Constellations
The "belt and sword" of Orion are frequently referred to in ancient and modern literature, and even found recognition as the shoulder insignia of the 27th Infantry Division of the United States Army during both World Wars, probably because the division's first commander was Major General John F. O'Ryan.
The Pharaohs of the fourth dynasty were star worshippers and knew considerably more about astronomy than previously thought. The three main Giza Plateau Pyramids were allegedly design in alignment with the Belt Stars of Orion. Ancient Egyptians were highly spiritual; their architecture symbolic of their beliefs. The stars were associated with Osiris, the god of death and underworld.
The metaphysics is it believed that the connection between Orion and Earth, particularly the Great Pyramid, is set up by a blueprint or architectural design created by the patterns of sacred geometry. This in turn also links with theories about aliens, or ancient astronauts, and the geometry of Earth and Mars.
The constellation has more than one version of a story surrounding it in Greek mythology.
In one version, Artemis, the goddess of hunt and the moon fell in love with Orion. She was so entranced by him, she forgot her divinely duty of illuminating the night sky. Her twin brother Apollo, seeing Orion swimming in the sea, dared his sister to strike what only appeared to be a spot on the waves. Not knowing it was Orion, Artemis shot an arrow and killed him. Later, when she found out what she did, she placed his body among the stars. The grief she felt explains why the moon looks so sad at night.
In a different ending of this myth, Apollo's jealousy led him to summon a giant scorpion, which not even the mighty hunter Orion could defeat, and he was killed by its poisonous sting. In some versions he slays the scorpion just after it stings him, and they die simultaneously. This explains the seasonal alternation of the appearance of the constellations of Orion (October to April) and Scorpius (April to October), which do not appear in the sky together. Legends differ on whether this separation was imposed by the gods so that they would never have to fight again or so that they would be eternally chasing each other.
Sirius, the Dog Star, constitutes Orion's left leg. It is part of Canis Major and has its own mythology. In some myths, it is Orion's hunting dog. By the time of the Roman Empire, Canis Minor was said to be Orion's second child, but the ancient Greeks refer only to one dog.
It may be that the naming of the constellation precedes the mythology in this case. It has been suggested that Orion is named from the Akkadian Uru-anna, the light of heaven, the name then passing into Greek mythology. As such, the myth surrounding Orion may derive simply from the relative positions of the constellations around it in the sky.
In some depictions, Orion appears to be composed of three bodies, having three arms, two divergent legs, and a small central one, as well as the three bodies being bound at the waist. As such, together with other features of the area in the Zodiac sign of Gemini (i.e. the Milky Way, the deserted area now considered as the constellations Camelopardalis and Lynx, and the constellations Gemini, Auriga, and Canis Major), this may be the origin of the myth of the cattle of Geryon, which forms one of The Twelve Labours of Herakles.
In pre-Christian Scandinavia, the "Orion's belt" portion of the constellation was known as Frigg's Distaff (Friggerock) or Freyja's distaff. In Finnish mythology the constellation of Orion is called the scythe of Vainamoinen. The term most likely comes from the fact it can be seen in the sky in early autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, the time of haymaking.
In ancient Aram, the constellation was known as Nephila, Orion's descendants were known as Nephilim.
The constellation is mentioned in Horace's Odes, Homer's Odyssey and Iliad, and Virgil's Aeneid.
The Bible mentions Orion 3 times: Job 9:9, Job 38:31 , and Amos 5:8.
The Seri people of northwestern Mexico call this constellation Hapj (a name denoting a hunter) which consists of three stars: Hap (mule deer), Haamoja (pronghorn), and Mojet (bighorn sheep). Hap is in the middle and has been shot by the hunter; its blood has dripped onto Tiburon Island.
Orion is also important in Australian Aboriginal Astronomy. For example, the Yolngu people of Arnhem Land say that the constellation of Orion, which they call Julpan, is a canoe. They tell the story of two brothers who went fishing, and caught and ate a fish that was forbidden under their law. Seeing this, the Sun sent a waterspout that carried the two brothers and their canoe up into the sky where they became the Orion constellation.
In Indian Mythology, the constallation is known as 'Vyadh', which also means The Hunter.
The constellation is mentioned in Horace's Odes, Homer's Odyssey and Iliad, and Virgil's Aeneid.
The constellation of Orion also appears in Milton's Paradise Lost, and Tennyson's Locksley Hall, "Great Orion sloping slowly to the west".
The Bible mentions Orion 4 times: Job 9:9, Job 38:31 , Amos 5:8 and Isaiah 13:10.
The Romanian poet Geo Bogza devoted a poem to Orion.
In the Middle-earth mythos of J. R. R. Tolkien, Menelmacar is the Quenya elven name for Orion.
Adrienne Rich wrote the poem, "Orion", in which she describes how she viewed him differently from childhood to middle age.
Planetary Systems Now Forming in Orion NASA - December 22, 2009
Sharpest views of Betelgeuse reveal how supergiant stars lose mass PhysOrg - July 29, 2009
Giant star Betelgeuse mysteriously shrinking and astronomer don't know why National Geographic - June 10, 2009
Popular Giant Betelgeuse Star Shrinks Mysteriously Live Science - June 9, 2009
Orion's Twin Stars Have Their Differences Discovery - June 19, 2008
The discovery is more than a curiosity: Par 1802 is an eclipsing binary star system, meaning the twins periodically orbit in front of one another, relative to Earth, temporarily and regularly blocking its partner's light. Such phenomena are yardsticks for measuring stars' basic physical properties and for testing theories about stellar evolution. "Very young eclipsing binaries like this are the Rosetta stones that tell us about the life history of newly formed stars," Stassun said.
Thousands of young stars may need to have their ages re-adjusted by as much as 20 percent for average-sized stars and 50 percent for low-mass stars like brown dwarfs, the scientists estimated. "The lack of age synchronization in Par 1802 suggests a precision limit of several hundred thousand years," the scientists concluded. Eclipsing binaries are very rare -- only about one in 1,000 stars. The researchers made the discovery after 15 years of collecting data on stars in Orion, during which time they found three eclipsing binary pairs. Par 1802 is the only one of the three with equal-mass stars, and it is the only eclipsing binary ever found anywhere with same-mass stars young enough -- less than a million years old -- for physical differences to still be apparent, Stassun told Discovery News. "We were pretty surprised when we first discovered the differences in temperature, brightness and diameter, but in truth maybe we should not have been," Stassun said. "We naively expected stars born at the same time, with the same mass and of the same stuff to look the same, but our current theories of binary star formation don't actually make predictions," he said.
Famous Orion Nebula Closer Than Thought Space.com - October 8, 2007
'Oldest star chart' found BBC - January 21, 2003
The oldest image of a star pattern, that of the famous constellation of Orion, has been recognised on an ivory tablet some 32,500 years old.The tiny sliver of mammoth tusk contains a carving of a man-like figure with arms and legs outstretched in the same pose as the stars of Orion. The claim is made by Dr Michael Rappenglueck, formerly of the University of Munich, who is already renowned for his pioneering work locating star charts painted on the walls of prehistoric caves. The tablet also contains mysterious notches, carved on its sides and on its back. These could be a primitive "pregnancy calendar", designed to estimate when a pregnant woman will give birth.
It was found in 1979 in a cave in the Ach Valley in the Alb-Danube region of Germany. Carbon dating of bone ash deposits found next to the tablet suggest it is between 32,500 and 38,000 years old, making it one of the oldest representations of a man ever found. It was left behind by the mysterious Aurignacian people about whom we know next to nothing save that they moved into Europe from the east supplanting the indigenous Neanderthals.
The ivory tablet is small, measuring only 38 x 14 x 4 millimetres, but from the notches carved into its edges archaeologists believe that it was made that size and is not a fragment of something bigger. On one side of the tablet is the man-like being with his legs apart and arms raised. Between his legs hangs what could be a sword and his waist is narrow. His left leg is shorter than his right one.
From what is speculated about the myths of these ancient peoples before the dawn of history, archaeologists have suggested that the man-like figure could be praying or dancing, or be a half-man, half-cat, or a divine being. But Michael Rappenglueck thinks it is a drawing of the constellation of Orion that is nowadays, and was perhaps also 32,000 years ago, called the hunter.
The proportions of the man correspond to the pattern of stars that comprise Orion, especially its slim waist - which corresponds to its famous belt of three stars and the left "leg" of the constellation being shorter. The "sword" on the ivory tablet also corresponds to a famous and well-know feature that can be seen in Orion.
There are also other indications that Dr Rappenglueck may be correct. The stars were in slightly different positions 32,000 years ago because they are moving across the sky at different speeds and in different directions, a phenomenon called "proper motion". Dr Rappenglueck allowed for this effect by using a computer program to wind back the sky and found evidence for a particular star in Orion that was in a different place all those years ago.
The tablet may also be a pregnancy calendar.There are 86 notches on the tablet, a number that has two special meanings. First, it is the number of days that must be subtracted from a year to equal the average number of days of a human gestation. This is no coincidence, says Dr Rappenglueck. It is also the number of days that one of Orion's two prominent stars, Betelguese, is visible. To ancient man, this might have linked human fertility with the gods in the sky. Orion is one of the most striking constellations. The Ancient Egyptians identified it with their god Osiris and it has a special significance for many cultures throughout history throughout the world.
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