We will talk about another important asterism, Orion's Belt, in just a few minutes! The Big Dipper asterism has three stars in a curve representing the handle, and four stars at the end of the handle representing the scoop. Keep going in the same direction as all the previous steps, but without following the inclination. Orion's belt is on the celestial equator or 90 degrees away from Polaris. The Big Dipper is always visible throughout the night in most of the Northern Hemisphere, while observers in the U.S. may view Orion best in the autumn and winter. The well-known asterism (star group) known as The Big Dipper (or The Plough) in Ursa Major (The Great Bear) can be used as a starting point to finding Gemini, Cancer and Leo in the night sky (provided these constellations are above the observer's horizon at the required time). 29 constellations represent inanimate objects; one is even named after a head of hair. Just draw a line through Orion’s Belt and extend that line toward the horizon. look for the neat line of three similar-looking stars spaced about equally apart A Connecticut native, his work specializes in sports, fishing and nature. Because the Earth rotates about its terrestrial poles, the heavens appear to rotate around the celestial poles. This is a widely dispersed group of seven bright stars (one in a pair) in six different constellations. For one thing, it's visible practically everywhere on Earth. Conveniently, if you follow the line extending through Orion's belt from your right to your left, you will soon "run into" Sirius. The name means "armpit of the central one" in Arabic, implying that constellations were shared between cultures. Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Phillip Chee. The stars are believed to have formed from the same nebula in Orion constellation, and they are roughly the same age. The dipper consists of seven stars, with three forming the handle of the dipper and the other four composing the bowl. But the apparent brightness of Betelgeuse waxes and wanes somewhat over time (Betelgeuse is what astronomers call a variable star) and at the time Betelgeuse was named, it looked brighter than Rigel (and no spectroscopic instruments existed in those days to confirm this). There is a bonus to finding Cassiopeia, too. Unlike a lot, even most, of the constellations, Orion arguably bears a strong relationship to that for which it is named: a hunter. Look at the chart at the top of this post. Orion’s trademark is his belt of three stars in a row. The Pleiades is one of the most famous asterisms. Orion may be the most recognizable constellation in the sky, with the possible exception of the Big Dipper stars. Orion is part of the "Winter Hexagon" mentioned previously. The Big Dipper is officially an asterism within the official constellation of Ursa Major, or the "Big Bear." Both of these asterisms contain, or are close to, other interesting features within their constellations. The Big Dipper seems to just be the common name for the asterism because that's what it looks like. Orion's belt is one, along with the handle of the Big Dipper, the "Summer Triangle" and the Winter Hexagon.". The red star nearby, Betelgeuse, forms his left shoulder (from your perspective), while the blue giant Rigel on the other side of the belt is his right leg. The blue giant star Rigel (Beta Orionis) enjoys less notoriety than Betelgeuse, but it is easier to say ("RYE-jel") and it claims the honor of being the 7th-brightest star in the heavens. Locate him by his belt, a straight line of three bright stars close together. ... You can then follow the three stars of Orion’s Belt down and to the left to find the bright star Sirius (α Canis Majoris) in the constellation Canis Major, the Big Dog. The three stars which form the asterism are more or less evenly spaced in a straight line. It is this information, in fact, that helps establish who came up with constellations in the first place; these astronomical artisans could not have lived further north than about 36 degrees North latitude based on the reach of the celestial atlas they concocted (that is, there were no constellations near the south celestial pole despite the presence of stars there). Central in the southern sky is the constellation Orion the Hunter. Find Orion’s Major Stars Equidistant above and below the belt stand the bright pumpkin-colored Betelgeuse and the blue-white Rigel. Use Orion’s Belt of three sparkling blue-white stars to locate Orion’s two brightest stars, ruddy Betelgeuse and blue-white Rigel. Alnilam is slightly brighter than the other two, but the difference to the human eye is negligible. It is time. If you're too impatient to wait for nightfall or don't live in a place where Orion appears in the night sky at this time of year, you can consult an interactive online star chart (see Resources for an example) to get a sense of Orion's size, shape and relationship to nearby constellations. The three bright stars that form the Orion’s Belt are Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka. More about Kevin and links to his professional work can be found at www.kemibe.com. Along with Orion’s Belt, the Big Dipper is one of the most recognizable star groups in the sky. This is easiest to find in the winter. By following a straight line from right to left through Orion’s belt, an individual can trace a path to Sirius, the brightest star in the evening heavens, within the constellation Canis Major. Coincidentally, the portion of the sky occupied by Orion is home to a variety of interesting non-star objects, too. 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