Stars have long attracted humanity,attracted to themselves beauty, mystery and mystery. In religions of different nations, they were given special importance, believing that their location could influence the fate of a person, the heroes of myths and legends also found refuge in the starry sky. One of the most famous constellations in the night sky is Orion, a beautiful constellation located to the south of the equator, on the southern part of the sky. The ancient Egyptians gave it the name - "king of the stars", and considered the constellation home of the god Osiris. It is easy to recognize asterism. Orion's belt is three bright stars, which, as if on a straight line, adorn the clothes of a giant hunter.
The legend that is reflected on the nightthe sky, controversial. According to one version, the brave hunter, son of Poseidon, Orion pursued the Pleiades sisters. To stop him, the goddess Artemis sent Scorpion, who put a deadly bite to the hunter. After the death of Orion was placed on the sky by his father Poseidon. According to another version, Orion is chasing the Hare along with his hunting Dog, and this episode is captured in the figure of the stars. Such is the legend describing the belt of Orion, confirmation of which can be seen in the outlines of the constellation.
It is one of the most notable at night.sky due to the fact that it combines many bright stars. Five of them belong to the stars of the second magnitude, four - the third magnitude and two - the first (this is the blue and white Riegel and red Betelgeuse). Both Riegel and Betelgeuse are supergiants. Rigel is thirty-three times the diameter of our sun. It is from us at a distance exceeding five hundred light years, and the light of the star, which we see now, was emitted by it even at the time when Columbus discovered America.
Another bright star entering Orion's belt -Betelgeuse, the name of which from the ancient Arabic means "giant's shoulder." This star is four hundred times the diameter of the sun. Nearby Rigel there is a star that seems muddy and blurred. A misty spot can be seen around it in a telescope. This is the Orion Nebula, which is a cloud of glowing gas. It could make ten thousand stars, such as our sun. The nebula is one thousand three hundred light years away. There is another nebula in the constellation of Orion. It is called the “Horsehead” because the gas-dust cloud is similar in shape to the head of a stallion.
No wonder the constellation Orion Belt is considered the mostbeautiful in the starry sky. When Orion rises above the horizon, one can observe seven bright stars that form a hexagon. These are Pollux, Capella, Sirius, Procyon, Aldebaran and Riegel. In the middle of the constellation stands bright Betelgeuse. The ancient people saw in the outlines of stars armed with a club of the hunter Orion. Three bright stars belonging to Orion’s belt have Arabic names. This is Alnilam - "pearl belt", Mintaka - "belt" and Alnitak - "sash". The constellation of Orion is still remarkable because there is an area in it below and to the right where there are no bright stars, and it is the opposite of the bright Orion belt. Here are the constellations whose names are associated with water: Whale, Pisces, the River Eridanus and Aquarius.
The best time when the Orion belt is especially bright in the sky is the winter months - December and January. You can watch the constellation throughout Russia.
