Winter Skies

Orion, the Hunter, is one of the most easily recognizable constellations in planet Earth's night sky. Orion is a great place to start your tour of the night sky. It serves as an excellent guide to several bright stars. The cool red giant Betelgeuse is the bright star at the upper left. Otherwise The supergiant Rigel balancs Betelgeuse at the lower right, Bellatrix is at the upper right, and Saiph is at the lower left. Lined up in Orion’s belt (left to right) are Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka all about 1,500 light-years away, born of the constellation's well-studied interstellar clouds. And if the middle "star" of Orion's sword looks reddish and fuzzy to you, it should. It's the stellar nursery known as the Great Nebula of Orion.

Links for More Information

Chabot Space and Science Center: Http://www.chabotspace.org

NASA: http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l2/stars.html