Orion constellation

Astronomy as a science is applied in the findings of celestial bodies in all space and for many years cosmic phenomena never before studied by the human being with the naked eye have been visualized, discovered and studied, thanks to this science we find a stellar body called the Orion constellation that is perhaps the largest grouping of stars most seen and recognized on the entire planet, since with its large and bright stars, visible from both the northern and southern hemispheres , they make this constellation a spectacle around the world.

Characteristics of the constellation Orion

• The constellation of Orion is lined by an interstellar region composed of a set of nascent stars, hydrogen gas and plasma, this phenomenon is known as the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex (M-42).
• It is located 500 light years from Earth.
• the constellation of Orion has cluster-like clouds that are made up of more than a hundred stars that give rise to other figures that host new constellations , new galaxies and probably new universes.
• Positioned in the lower right, taking as a reference the belt of the constellation among other nebulae , Orion represents the head of a horse.
• The constellation of Orion served as a calendar and compass to many civilizations for their orientation at each time of the year, with this they were governed even for the sowing and harvesting seasons.
• Orion’s belt is a set of stars that radiate light in the central part of his figure, positioning himself close to where his sword is, this belt is represented in other cultures such as the three marys or as the three wise men .
• Belt stars have a zero degree declination

History

This constellation was awarded in honor of the name of a hunter named Orion who belonged to Greek mythology.

In Greek literature, Orion existed as a great hunter in the Odyssey of Homer , an epic poem based on 24 songs composed in the eighth century BC attributed to the events of the Greek hero Odysseus after the Trojan War, the birth of Orion is cited in May in the historical region of Viotia in western Greece , where he was revered as a hero and says there is an etiologic landscape in which Orion is responsible for the straits of Sicily , which is one of the twenty regions that make the Italian Republic today.

Orion was the son of Poseidon the king of the seas and of the Goddess of the earth Gaea , he was conceived the gift of walking on the sea by the power of his father; In his adventures, he traveled to the island of Chios where it is said that he asked for the hand in marriage of Enopion’s daughter , Merope . By refusing, she angers the hunter and in a drunken state he rapes her, furious and thirsty for revenge, Enopyon took the hunter’s vision with the help of the god Dionysus who left him in a deep state of sleep and upon awakening he had lost his mind. sight. Desperate, Orion implores prayers between sobs for the help of his God who told him that he should travel to the Far East and seek the rising Sun that it was the only thing that would heal him.

Upon regaining his vision, the hunter returned to Chios to take revenge for the actions of King Enopyon, but he was already hiding underground with his daughter Merope, full of anger, Orion began to kill all the animals that crossed his path . His mother, the Goddess Gaia, warned him to stop the slaughter but Orion ignored it, if he had other remedies, Gaia sent a scorpion which the hunter stepped on in his moment of anger and this one stuck his poisonous stinger in the foot where it falls poisoned to ground and cries out to Zeus to ascend to the heavens honoring him as the great hunter that he was.

Location

The position of the constellation Orion is located on the galactic equator, which is close enough to the Milky Way that it can be seen with a telescope and even low-power binoculars. In both hemispheres it is visible from October to March, observers located on the Earth’s equator can appreciate the constellation in its passage through the zenith, which is a point located in the celestial hemisphere on the vertical of the observer.

Orion constellation stars

Within the constellation of Orion there are a variety of stars that make up the hunter hero, these are the most relevant:

Rigel or β Orionis

Composed of triple stars, it is the largest and brightest in the constellation, it has a white and blue color, it is the most important star .

Betelgeuse or α Orionis

In the sky, it is the number nine star for its brightness and is the second brightest in the entire constellation.

Bellatrix

It is the third most powerful star in the entire constellation because it has a clear blue glow, its name means The Combatant .

The stars that have the brightest and are known worldwide are The Three Marys or The Three Wise Men:

Alnilam or Epsilon Orionis , Alnitak or Deseta Orionis and Mintaka or Delta Orionis , have a straight shape in the sky is related to a geometric figure for which they form an asterism . All these stars have a temperature greater than 275,000 and 537,000 C, surpassing the Sun charged with great luminosity.

What does the constellation Orion represent?

It has a special meaning, because for eons it was considered one of the greatest gates to heaven by different ancient civilizations, which considered it the closest thing to divinity in the sky.

Legend

The constellation Orion is based on a Greek hero who ascended to heaven after leaving his life on earth after fulfilling his destiny. His name was Orion, the hunter.

There are many alternate stories about the adventures of Orion, one of them is The Hunter and the Bull , where in the stars a battle is fought between these cosmic beings for the 7 daughters of the Titan Atlas who are the Pleiades who ascended to heaven to escape from the Orion’s harassment for such an action, the bull stands in his way to fight the hunter, however; Orion finds his shield and club ready for battle, in order to get closer to his beloved pleiades.

Presence in the Bible

In the bible there are scriptures that are considered sacred, written by Gemini , a monk who recounts the expansion and creation of all the stars in the Universe, and considered the stars as lights that served to separate the day from the night in the heavens . It also provided signals for the seasons, winter or summer.

What the monk expressed in his time is what we know today as the constellation of Orion.

Importance of the constellation Orion

Studying the stars has had a boom thanks to the constant evolution of technology, astronomy as a science opens up endless possibilities to acquire wisdom of the Universe and its immensity as well as to understand the functions and mechanics of our solar system.