When do you see orion in the sky

Declination Dec : Tells you how high your object will rise in the sky. Like Earth's latitude, declination measures north and south. Its units are degrees, arcminutes and arcseconds. There are 60 arcmins in a degree and 60 arcsecs in an arcmin. Casually glancing below the three stars of Orion's belt, you should be able to make out the Orion Nebula as a smudge in a dark, light pollution-free sky with your naked eye.

The Orion Nebula — a formation of dust, hydrogen, helium and other ionized gases rather than a star — is the middle "star" in Orion's sword, which hangs off of Orion's Belt. It is one of the brightest nebulae in the sky, according to NASA. The Horsehead Nebula is a tricky target to find, but it is not impossible. The nebula can be found just south of the easternmost star in Orion's Belt.

The shape of the nebula is forged by radiation from the surrounding stars. According to NASA, the nebula is only visible because the dust is silhouetted against a brighter nebula. The nebula was revealed to be a distinct nebula by French astronomer Jean-Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan in The Trapezium Cluster is a young star cluster and contains hundreds of young stars at various staged of formation.

According to ESA , high-speed jets of hot gas released by some young stars are sending shockwaves through the nebula at speeds of , mph. The cluster is easily located as the brightest four stars form the shape of a trapezoid. The constellation of the hunter has also proven a fertile hunting ground for extra-solar planets, or exoplanets , planets beyond the solar system.

Here are a few of the planets or potential planets that have been discovered in stars that fall within Orion's boundaries in the Earth's sky. The star CVSO 30 is 1, light-years away and likely hosts a couple of potential planets. CVSO 30c if it exists is a gas giant that orbits its star at a distance of astronomical units Earth-sun distances and makes an orbit every 27, years.

The other candidate planet is gas giant CVSO 30b, which by contrast is extremely close — just 0. A Jupiter-size potential exoplanet, PTFOb , is about 1, light-years from Earth and if it exists is so close to its star that its outer layers are being ripped away from the rest of the planet. The star's system showed high-energy hydrogen emissions that can't be explained by stellar activities or features, according to astronomers.

There are a few other probable planets in Orion as well, although their existence may be proved or disproved with more observations. Having immense powers of the sea, Poseidon gave Orion the ability to walk on water.

Using this power, he crossed the ocean and arrived at the island of Chios. After partying and drinking too much, he tried to force himself upon Merope, the daughter of the local King Oenopion. In a rage, the King had him blinded and banished from the island. Orion eventually had his sight restored by the sun God Helios. He became an enthusiastic hunter but unfortunately had a bad attitude. When he declared that he would kill every animal in the world, the Goddess of the Earth, Gaea, became angry and sent a giant scorpion to do battle with him.

The Scorpion succeeded in killing Orion. Zeus turned both Orion and the Scorpion into constellations. In ancient mythology, the Hunter symbolized a force that was strong and powerful. He was feared by his enemies and admired by his friends.

Image credit: Sanu N. He has huge amounts of perseverance, endurance, and stamina, stalking his prey, sometimes for many miles before the kill. The Egyptians were also known to have discovered Orion. Starseeds are highly evolved souls who have great powers of wisdom. They believe that closer observations with more powerful telescopes will reveal many more exoplanets.

Exoplanets are exciting in that they revolve around the main star and could offer similar conditions to our solar system. Meteor showers make awesome viewing if you are lucky enough to be in an area where they are visible. The Orionids is a shower that stems from the club that Orion holds aloft in his hand.

These showers will be seen around October 21, , before dawn. You will see around 10 to 20 meteors per hour, leaving long trains in the sky. This year, there will be no moon to detract from the sight — grab your telescope and get ready! Skip to content. Alnitak is light-years from Earth. Alnilam is light-years away. Mintaka is around light-years away. So, how far is Orion from Earth?

In the northern hemisphere, the Hunter stands upright. You can form his body by finding the famous three stars that make up his belt. Dangling down from his belt is a sword. The sword is easily seen as it contains the bright Orion Nebula, which looks like a dense, bright spot in the sky. Work your way upwards and imagine him holding a large club.

Opposite Betelgeuse is a bright star known as Bellatrix. This star marks the shoulder of his right arm, which extends outwards. In his right hand, he holds a shield. Some ancient cultures saw it as animal skin, or a slain lion — you can decide. How old is the Orion constellation? Scientifically, the constellation contains objects that are millions of years old. Here are a few Orion facts The star Rigel is a relatively young star at only 10 million years old.

Betelgeuse is also around the same age. Bellatrix is older at around 25 million years. Zodiac family Orion the Hunter is not one of the twelve constellations of the Zodiac. This is because the constellation does not lie on the ecliptic path of the sun. Because they were enemies , the two constellations are never seen in the sky at the same time 5.

Orion is also closely connected to Taurus the Bull, the 2nd sign of the Zodiac. Features Stars in Orion constellation Like most constellations, the constellation of Orion is made up of numerous stars. How many stars in Orion? It has an apparent magnitude of 1.

It belongs to the spectral class B0. It is the fourth brightest star in the Orion constellation and the 30th brightest star in the night sky. It radiates about , solar luminosities. Alnilam is surrounded by the reflection nebula NGC , a molecular cloud illuminated by the light emitted by the star.

It is losing mass and its internal hydrogen fusion is shutting down. Alnilam will soon evolve into a red supergiant, one much brighter than Betelgeuse , and eventually go out as a supernova.

Alnitak, Zeta Orionis, is a multiple star system in Orion, approximately light years distant. The brightest component in the system, Alnitak A, is yet another hot, blue supergiant, one with an absolute magnitude of The star has a visual magnitude of 2.

It is the brightest O class star known. It is in fact a close binary star, composed of the O9. The dwarf was first discovered in The nebula was first discovered by William Herschel on February 1, The dark Horsehead Nebula lies in the same area of the sky.

It is the sixth brightest star in the constellation, with an apparent magnitude of 2. The star is approximately light years distant. Saiph is a blue supergiant, belonging to the spectral class B0. Hatysa, or Iota Orionis, is a quadruple star system in the constellation Orion.

The primary component in the Iota Orionis system is a massive spectroscopic binary star that has an eccentric day orbit. The binary is a strong X-ray source as a result of the collision of the stellar winds coming from the pair. Iota Orionis has an apparent magnitude of 2. Lambda Orionis is blue giant belonging to the spectral type O8III, approximately 1, light years distant. It has a visual magnitude of 3.

Lambda Orionis is also sometimes called Heka, from the Arabic Al Hakah, or a white spot, referring to the Arabic lunar mansion that includes both Lambda and Phi Orionis. Meissa is really a double star. The companion, a hot blue-white dwarf belonging to the spectral class B0. Phi-1 Orionis is a double star approximately 1, light years distant.

The main component is a main sequence star belonging to the spectral type B0, with an apparent magnitude of 4. Phi-2 Orionis is a K0 class giant approximately light years distant. It has an apparent magnitude of 4. Unlike most binary and multiple stars that share the same Bayer designation, the stars in the Pi Orionis system are fairly wide apart.

Pi-1 Orionis and Pi-6 Orionis are separated by almost nine degrees. Pi-1 Orionis 7 Orionis is the faintest star in the system. It is a white main sequence dwarf with an apparent magnitude of 4. The star belongs to the spectral type A0. Pi-2 Orionis 2 Orionis is also a main sequence dwarf, belonging to the spectral class A1Vn. It is located light years from Earth and has a visual magnitude of 4. Pi-3 Orionis 1 Orionis , also known as Tabit, is the brightest of the six stars.

It is a white dwarf belonging to the spectral class F6V, only The star is very similar to the Sun, with 1. For this reason, Pi-3 Orionis is considered a possible location for Earth-size planets.

Pi-4 Orionis 3 Orionis has an apparent magnitude of 3. It is one of the most luminous stars known. It is really a spectroscopic binary star, composed of two hot class B2 stars, a giant and a subgiant.

They make a very close pair and cannot be resolved, even through a telescope. Only their spectra give away the fact that they are two stars, not one. The stars orbit each other with a period of 9. Both of them have masses about 10 times that of the Sun and their respective luminosities are 16, and 10, times that of the Sun. Pi-5 Orionis 8 Orionis has an apparent magnitude of 3. It is a variable star with a mean visual magnitude of 4.

The star lies light years from Earth. Eta Orionis is an eclipsing binary star system that consists of two blue stars, belonging to the spectral type B0.

The star is classified as a Beta Lyrae variable, a type of close binary star with variations in brightness caused by one component occasionally passing in front of the other one. Sigma Orionis is a multiple star system in Orion constellation. It consists of five stars located a little south of Alnitak. The system is approximately 1, light years distant.

The primary component in the Sigma Orionis system is a double star, Sigma Orionis AB, composed of two hydrogen-fusing dwarfs separated by only 0. The brighter star is blue. It belongs to the spectral type O9V, and has an apparent magnitude of 4.

The companion belongs to the spectral class B0. The two stars orbit each other every years. Sigma Orionis C is a dwarf star belonging to the spectral type A2V. It has an apparent magnitude of 8. Sigma Orionis D and E are also dwarfs. Both belong to the spectral type B2V and their respective magnitudes are 6. Sigma Orionis E is notable for being exceptionally rich in helium. With an apparent magnitude of 3. Chi-1 Orionis is a main sequence dwarf, only 28 light years distant from Earth.

It belongs to the spectral type G0V and has an apparent magnitude of 4. It has a faint red dwarf for a companion, with an orbital period of Gliese is an orange dwarf, belonging to the spectral class K7. The star is believed to have passed only 5 light years from the Sun approximately , years ago. The nebula has a huge hole of empty space appearing as a black patch in its central region.

The reason why the patch appears black has not yet been determined, but one theory suggests that narrow jets of gas from the neighbouring young stars may have punctured the sheet of dust and gas in the nebula and strong radiation from an older star in the region may have helped create the hole.

The nebula lies about 1, light years from Earth. V Orionis belongs to the spectral type A0 and is approximately 1, light years distant. GJ is the nearest Orion star to the solar system.

It is located only It is a red dwarf, belonging to the spectral class M3. GJ is believed to have come within 4. The Orion Molecular Cloud Complex, or simply the Orion Complex, is comprised of a large group of dark clouds, bright emission and reflection nebulae, dark nebulae, H II regions large clouds showing recent star forming activity and young stars in the constellation Orion.

The Orion Complex is between 1, and 1, light years distant. Several parts of it — the famous Orion Nebula, for one — can be seen without binoculars. The nebula is one of the brightest ones in the sky and can be seen without binoculars. It has a visual magnitude of 4.