Constellation of Orion

The constellation of Orion is one of the most beautiful constellations in the sky. Among the brightest stars in it is Betelgeuse, a red supergiant located on Orion’s right shoulder. It is 630 times bigger than our Sun. There is also Rigel on Orion’s left knee. This is a blue supergiant 80 times bigger than our Sun. And finally Bellatrix is a more modest star on Orion’s left shoulder. At the centre of the constellation there are also 3 stars: Alnitak, Mintaka and Alnilam forming Orion's belt, and which are also called "the three kings" or "the three magi".

Just below these stars is the Orion nebula, called M42 or Meissner 42. This nebula is visible with the naked eye, but through binoculars the show is even better. There are two showers of shooting stars in Orion: the Orionids, active from 2 October to 7 November and the chi-Orionids, active from 26 November to 15 December.

In Greek mythology the constellation of Orion represented the hunter Orion, who said he could kill any animal. According to the legend, he was killed by a scorpion. The Sumerians saw a sheep in the constellation of Orion. The Egyptians considered it as an offering to Osiris, the god of death and the afterworld. For the Chinese, it is one of the 28 constellations in the Chinese zodiac. And for the Mayas, it represented a god.