Orion's Belt
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Orion's Belt
A line of three brilliant white stars, from left to right (east to west), Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka. The names of all three refer to the set: the outer two are named after the “belt” of the Arabs' “Central One” (a mysterious female figure), while Alnilam comes from an Arabic word that aptly means “the string of pearls.” The proximity of the trio in the sky is an illusion. In fact, the stars at either end of the Belt, Alnitak and Mintaka, are the closest together in space, Alnitak being a little over 800 light-years away, and Mintaka 100 light-years farther off. The central star, Alnilam, is much more distant than either of these, lying on the edge of the Orion Molecular Cloud, more than 1,300 light-years from the Sun. Alnilam is also easily the most massive and luminous of the three stars, so that despite its greater distance it still shines more brightly than its two companions. Like much of its parent constellation, Orion's Belt is a highly nebulous region of the sky. This is especially true in the direction of Alnitak, where numerous nebular structures are found. The most famous of these is Horsehead Nebula, a dark cloud blotting out the light from the red-pink streak of IC 424. Also occupying this region are the less well-known Flame Nebula (NGC 2024) and the Lump Star (NGC 2023).
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Orion's Belt
This article is about the group of stars within the constellation Orion. For other uses, see Orion's Belt (disambiguation).
Orion's Belt or The Belt of Orion is an asterism in the constellation Orion. It consists of the three bright stars: Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka.
Looking for Orion's Belt in the night sky is the easiest way to locate the constellation Orion in the sky. In the Northern hemisphere, Orion's Belt is best visible in the night sky during the month of January at around 9.00 pm.[1]
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Component stars
Alnitak
Alnitak is approximately 736 light years away from Earth and, taking into consideration ultraviolet radiation, which the human eye cannot see, Alnitak is 100,000 times more luminous than the Sun.[2]
Alnilam
Alnilam is approximately 1340 light years away from earth and shines with magnitude 1.70. Considering ultraviolet light Alnilam is 375,000 times more luminous than the Sun.[3]
Mintaka
Mintaka is 915 light years away and shines with magnitude 2.21. Mintaka is 90,000 times more luminous than the Sun. Mintaka is a double star. Both stars orbit around each other every 5.73 days.[4]
References in History and Culture
The same three stars are known in Spain and Brazil as "The Three Marys". They also mark the northern night sky when the sun is at its lowest point, and were a clear marker for ancient timekeeping. In the Philippines and Puerto Rico they are called the Three Kings.[5] The stars start appearing around the holiday of Epiphany, when the Biblical Magi visited the baby Jesus, which falls on January 6.
Richard Hinckley Allen lists many folk names for the Belt of Orion. The English ones include: Jacob's Rod or Staff; Peter's Staff; the Golden Yard-arm; the L, or Ell; the Ell and Yard; the Yard-stick, and the Yard-wand; the Ellwand; Our Lady's Wand; the Magi; the Three Kings; the Three Marys; or simply the Three Stars.[6]
The passage "Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?" is found in the Bible's Book of Job.
In the Star Trek episode The City on the Edge of Forever, Capt. James T. Kirk tells Edith Keeler that "a hundred years or so from now", a famous novelist will write a classic using the theme "Let me help" and indicates that he will come from "a planet circling that far left star in Orion's belt."
Gallery
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Map of Orion.
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Amateur astrophotograph of Orion's Belt.
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Astrophotograph of the region of Orion’s Belt and the Flame Nebula.
See also
References
- ^ Dolan, Chris. "Orion". Archived from the original on 2011-11-28. http://www.webcitation.org/63XCardIx. Retrieved 2011-11-28.
- ^ http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/alnitak.html
- ^ "Alnilam". Jim Kaler's Stars. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Campus. 2009. Archived from the original on 2011-11-28. http://www.webcitation.org/63XBTECPT. Retrieved 2011-11-28.
- ^ "Mintaka". Jim Kaler's Stars. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Campus. 2009. Archived from the original on 2011-11-28. http://www.webcitation.org/63XCA2Co1. Retrieved 2011-11-28.
- ^ http://sepiensa.org.mx/contenidos/s_reyes/reyes.htm
- ^ Allen, Richard Hinkley. "Star Names — Their Lore and Meaning". http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Topics/astronomy/_Texts/secondary/ALLSTA/home.html.
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