Aries

ORION

The Hunter

One of the best known and most recognisable star-patterns in the sky, Orion represents an heroic hunter of Greek myth. Lying on the edge of the Milky Way, this constellation is rich in bright stars and nebulae.

Derivation
In Greek myth, Orion was a giant who hunted the wild animals of the earth. He was the enemy of Artemis the huntress, who according to some tales was responsible for his death. Other stories, though, tell how he pursued the daughters of Pleione - the Pleiades - and with them was turned into a constellation to chase them forever across the sky.

The origins of Orion as a celestial figure predate even the ancient Greeks. It is thought, for example, that the Egyptians revered this constellation as the heavenly embodiment of their god Osiris.
 

Stars
Orion contains some of the best known stars in the sky, with perhaps the most famous being the variable red giant Betelgeuse, which marks Orion's left shoulder. At his right shoulder is another variable star, this time blue in colour, known as Bellatrix. At Orion's right foot is yet another famous star, blue like Bellatrix: the supergiant Rigel.

A key feature of Orion's constellation is his Belt of three bright stars that form a nearly straight line across its central parts. These stars are Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, three very distant but very luminous bodies. Beneath Alnilam (the central star of the Belt) is the Sword of Orion - a vertical line of fainter stars and nebulosity.

In addition to its better known stellar features, Orion also contains a bow-shaped array of less prominent stars to the west of the constellation's main body, which are said to represent the hunter's cape or shield. To the north, where the Milky Way passes through the constellation, a less clearly defined star-group supposedly describe's Orion's club.

Nebulae
The Sun and Solar System are situated on the inner edge of a small spiral arm of the Milky Way Galaxy known as the Orion Arm. In the direction of the constellation of Orion is the dense heart of this galactic arm, and so this part of the sky is filled with nebulous regions. In particular, a vast dark cloud known as the Orion Molecular Cloud fills a significant portion of the constellation. The Cloud, which lies about 1,300 light years away, is generally invisible from Earth. Where conditions are right, though, areas of this matter are illuminated by nearby stars to become visible as nebulae.

The most prominent of these is the diffuse nebula at the centre of the Sword of Orion, sometimes simply called the Great Nebula, but more commonly known as the Orion Nebula. This is a region of star formation just within the inner edge of the Cloud, where the newly formed stars that make up the Trapezium formation light up the gas and dust that surrounds them.

Another very well known object in Orion is the so-called Horsehead Nebula. This is a plume of interstellar matter that cuts out some of the light cast by the bright nebula IC 434, just south of Alnitak. The fact that this plume has a shape irresistably reminiscent of a horse's head makes it one of the most recognisable such phenomena in the sky.

The region around the Belt and Sword of Orion, on the edge of the Molecular Cloud, is so active that it exerts immense pressure on the surrounding interstellar material. The result is an apparent spherical 'wave' some three hundred light years across. This phenomenon is visible as a faint and broken ring known as Barnard's Loop, extending outwards as much as 14° from the central regions of Orion.

The Solar System lies at the inner edge of the Orion Arm of our Galaxy. When we look at Orion, then, we are looking outward through the stars of our own galactic arm, towards the Galaxy's edge.
 

This image has been captured the whole figure of Barnard's Loop surrounding the southern region of Orion. The Loop has a real size of 440 by 280 light years in ellipse. And I've enhanced red channel of this image intentionally. The Barnard's Loop is bright in northern region and can be taken clearer than southern part. And this image shows you the extraordinary dimmed gaseous matter is distributed between the Great Orion Nebula (M42) and the outer shell of the Loop in southern region. It's considered that the Barnard's Loop is a spreading hydrogen gas by a supernova explosion occurred around between the Great Orion Nebula and the Horse head Nebula about a million years ago. And maybe the dimmed nebulosities may be left matter in a process of the diffusion of "Blast". The Barnard's Loop has a catalogue number of Sh2-276, but it's a number of only northern regions, the southern remaining part has no identifying numbers.

This image presents you the most splendid sky field in winter. The Great Orion Nebula (M42) can be seen at the lower right-hand side. And the vast and very dimmed hydrogen gaseous region is spread around the field of central Orion from the Great Orion Nebula to the Horse Head Nebula. The field is central region of so-called "The Orion Association", and contains many inter-stellar matter and young stars. I've emphasized the red color in this picture.

M43 is part of the much larger Orion Nebula complex. This section features a an extremely bright OB star that is creating a matter bound Stromgren sphere. This means that the star is ionizing the gas that is near it- making a sphere of glowing (pink) hydrogen gas. The size of this sphere is determined by the density of gas/dust that surrounds the star. Another good example of this process can be found in IC 1274. M43 and the Orion Nebula are around 1,500 light years away. Many new stars will be formed from these clouds of gas.

M78 (NGC2068) is a faint reflection nebula about 2.5 degree NE of Altanik (zeta Ori) with a size of 8 arc minutes. The nebula is fairly striking because vast dark nebula conceals stars around M78.
The Barnard's loop is a faint and gigantic ring nebula with a diameter of over 18 degrees, which covers whole of eastern Orion. Its shape can be detected only by photo films, it's considered that the Barnard's loop is a remnant of supernova exploded about one million years ago. This picture shows you a north end of the loop; it's the deepest region in this inter-stellar gas.  Detailed structure of M78

What lights up the Flame Nebula? Fifteen hundred light years away towards the constellation of Orion lies a nebula which, from its glow and dark dust lanes, appears like a billowing fire. But fire, the rapid acquisition of oxygen, is not what makes this Flame glow. Rather the bright star Alnitak, the easternmost star in the Belt of Orion visible to the nebula's right, shines energetic light into the Flame that knocks electrons away from the great clouds of hydrogen gas that reside there. Much of the glow results when the electrons and ionized hydrogen recombine. The above false-color picture of the Flame Nebula (NGC 2024) was taken in infrared light, where a young star cluster becomes visible. The Flame Nebula is part of the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex, a star-forming region that includes the famous Horsehead Nebula.

This shot has captured a star field just 1 degree east of Mintaka, the western star of Orion's belt. You can see some of dimmed reflection nebulae here. A round one on left hand side is IC426,

The Horsehead Nebula", a reddish nebula as a background of the horsehead-shaped dark cloud is registered in a catalogue as IC434, that is spread to about 3.5 degree SW, around The Great Orion Nebula. It's extremely difficult to detect with our eyes.
 

IC2162 is a compact diffused nebula lying around the tip of Orion's cudgel. The nebula is positioned at only 2.5 degrees south of "Monkey nebula" belongs to same Orion. Though IC2162 has a smaller size of 15 arc minutes than that of Monkey nebula, fairly photogenic object. But the nebula has fewer characteristics in its shape and has no familiar nicknames like "Monkey nebula", not well known in amateur observers. This picture tells us that IC2162 consists of three round nebulae paralleling in east-west direction.

A small reflection nebula only 1degree SSE of the Great Orion Nebula(M42) is named NGC1999. The nebula has an apparent diameter of only 1 arc minute. This object looks like a compact ring because a lump of dark nebulosity is obstructing a white gas in background. A newborn star of V380 with a magnitude of 10.5 is shining in eastern region of the nebula and NGC1999 is glittering by the star. In January 2000, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) took a splendid shot of NGC1999, the shot made this faint object popular overnight. The nebula is lying about 1500 light years away, just in the Orion Association.

NGC2112 is a medium sized open cluster about 4 degrees northeast of Altanik, the east star of Orion's belt. The cluster is being on top of the Barnard's loop covering the eastern region of Orion, you can detect very dimmed reddish gaseous matter in this picture. The cluster has several tens of fine stars in about 11 arc minutes in diameter, and visual brightness of 9th magnitude. Although NGC2112 is one of minor celestial objects in dazzling constellation of Orion, you can appreciate the cluster like a nebula only with binoculars.
 

BELLATRIX (Gamma Orionis). If constellations could speak, they might well shout "unfair" at great Orion. One of only three constellations to have two first magnitude stars (the others Crux, the Southern Cross, and Centaurus, the Centaur), it also has the fourth and seventh-ranked SECOND magnitude stars. Bellatrix (magnitude 1.64) follows immediately behind Castor in Gemini, Gacrux (Gamma Crucis) in Crux, and Shaula in Scorpius. (Number 7 is Alnilam, Delta Orionis.) The name (oddly, originally applied to Capella) translates from Latin as "the female warrior" (a contrast with Orion as a giant warrior rather than as a hunter), and sometimes as the "Amazon Star." Blue-white luminous Bellatrix certainly lives up to its grand name. It is one of the hotter naked eye stars. With a temperature of 21,500 Kelvin (at the hot end of class B), it is in league with Spica, Adhara, and Shaula. Its measured distance of 240 light years shows it to radiate (accounting for a lot of ultraviolet radiation from the hot surface) 6400 times more light than does the Sun. If Bellatrix has not already ceased hydrogen fusion in its core, it will soon, and is even now classed as a "giant." Such hot giants however, are nowhere near as large as the classical orange and red giants. (Carrying eight or nine solar masses, Bellatrix will become such an orange giant in at most a few million years, and then die quietly as a massive white dwarf; it is not quite large enough to explode). The star's great luminosity comes not so much from its diameter (six times that of the Sun), but from its high temperature. The small but measurable angular diameter gives the same physical dimension as calculation from luminosity and temperature, telling us that all our measures are right on the mark. Bellatrix was long thought to be part of the physical association of stars that makes much of Orion, but modern measures of distance place it considerably closer than the others, and it now seems to be independent of them. More important, Bellatrix was long taken as a standard for the measurement of stellar brightnesses, against which astronomers can follow the meanderings of variable stars (those that vary in brightness). But Bellatrix perversely seems to vary a bit too, by a few percent over an undetermined period. As our ability to measure stellar brightnesses gets better and better, it is becoming more and more difficult to find stars that are entirely stable.
 

Orion Orion is the master of the winter skies. He lords over the heavens from late fall to early spring, with his hunting dog Sirius trailing at his feet. The mythic tales of Orion go as far back as the Hittites, who flourished from the Second Millenium BC to around 1200 BC. One story from this culture gives an interesting account of Orion's death. Here he is called Aqhat, and was a handsome and famous hunter. The Battle-Goddess Anat fell in love with Aqhat, but when he refused to lend her his bow, she sent another man to steal it. This chap bungled the job, and wound up killing Aqhat and dropping the bow into the sea. This is said to explain the astronomical fact that Orion and the Bow (an older version of the constellation) drops below the horizon for two months every spring.

Like all myths borrowed from several sources over a great length of time, the Greek stories offer many variations. Generally speaking, Orion was known as the "dweller of the mountain", and was famous for his prowess both as a hunter and as a lover. But when he boasted that he would eventually rid the earth of all the wild animals, his doom may have been sealed.
It might have been the Earth Goddess herself who sent the deadly scorpion to Orion. Or possibly Apollo, concerned that Orion had designs on his sister, Artemis. Thus Apollo may have told the Earth Goddess of Orion's boast. In any case, it seems clear that it was the Earth Goddess who sent the scorpion on its mission.

Some stories have the scorpion killing Orion with its sting. However the general consensus is that he engaged the scorpion in battle but quickly realised its armour was impervious to any mortal's attack. Orion then jumped into the sea and swam toward Delos. But Apollo had witnessed Orion's struggle with the scorpion and would not let him escape so easily. He challenged his sister Artemis, who was an excellent shot, if she could hit that small black object far away in the sea, the head -- he told her -- of an infamous and treacherous villan. Artemis struck the object with her first shot. She then swam out to retrieve her victim's corpse, and discovered she had killed Orion. Artemis implored the gods to restore his life, but Zeus objected. So she put Orion's image in the heavens.

In his eternal hunting, Orion is careful to keep well ahead of the scorpion. In fact Orion has disappeared over the horizon by the time Scorpio rises in the east, as it becomes his turn to rule the evening sky.

Finding Orion
Finding Orion should be no problem. Its stars are some of the most familiar in all the heavens. Question: can you name the three stars that make up Orion's Belt. (Answer below.)
Above the belt, slightly to the left, is Betelgeuse, alpha Orionis.

Betelgeuse, the right arm of Orion (or "armpit" as the name suggests), glows with a dull red. Although labelled alpha Orionis, it is less bright than beta Orionis (Rigel), in the opposite corner of the constellation, to the southwest. Yet if slightly less bright, it is much larger, estimated at around 250 Suns. If one were to replace our Sun with Betelgeuse, its size would completely engulf the Earth and extend as far as Mars.

As the brightest star in Orion, Rigel ranks as the seventh brightest star in all the heavens, just behind Capella. It is a visual binary; its companion is much fainter, but quite visible if you are persistent enough (PA 202º, 9.4").

The other corners of the constellation are formed by Bellatrix (gamma Orionis) and Saiph (kappa Orionis). It was once thought that all women born under the sign of Bellatrix would be fortunate and have the gift of speech. The star's name is often translated as Female Warrior or Amazon, and another name sometimes seen is "Amazon Star".

The constellation's main feature is of course the three stars which form the "belt" across the middle of Orion: from west to east Mintaka, Alnilam, and Alnitak. Even the Bible makes reference to this famous group. God, while pointing out how all-powerful he was, is purported to have asked Job if he (Job) was able to "loose the bands of Orion" (Job 38.31).

The last of these stars is also known as zeta Orionis, and is a well known triple star system. The primary is a blue-white star, and its companion (165º, 2.3") is a dull red. Close by, just to the south, is the renowned Horsehead Nebula, a so-called dark nebula that is not visible in scopes but quite spectacular in long-exposure photographs.
 

Binary stars in Orion:
There are many double stars in this constellation visible in small telescopes. Below are several selected from a wide list.

Beta Orionis (Rigel) has a 10.4 visual magnitude companion at 202º and a wide 9.5" separation. This is a fixed system.
Lambda Orionis (between Betelgeuse and Bellatrix) is another fixed binary, with a 5.5 companion at PA 43º and 4.4" away.

Theta1 is a complex system of fixed stars. The four brightest form The Trapezium, an outstanding multiple system for small telescopes. AB is at a position angle of 32º and separation 8.8", AC: PA 132º, 12.7", and AD: PA 96º, 21.5".

Theta2 is also a fine binary, a triple system to the southeast of The Trapezium. Component B is a binocular object: 6.4 magnitude at a position angle of 92º and separation 52.5". Component C (8.5) is even wider: PA 98º and separation 128.72".

Sigma Orionis is one of the few orbiting binaries found in Orion. Component B has an orbit of 158 years and is one of the few components that traces a not-quite-perfect circle. That's to say, we see it nearly face on, as a wheel spinning around its hub.
     The separation never changes much from its current distance of only 0.2". Its 2000.0 position angle is 132º.
     Much easier to resolve is component E, with a visual magnitude of 6.7, this is a binocular object at a position angle of 61º and separtion of 42".

Zeta Orionis (1.9, 4.0) has a very slow orbit of 1509 years, and is currently at 165º and 2.3" separation.

Variable stars in Orion:

A dozen stars in this constellation are visible in small scopes, but most of them are of the EA type of eclipsing binaries, which change very little. These include two stars of the Trapezium (theta 1A and 1B).

EA variables are old stars, nearing the end of their evolutionary process. The companion has grown to the size of a subgiant, perhaps equal in size to its primary. But their luminosities are quite different; thus, as the dimmer companion revolves around its primary, variations in the total brightness occur.
The maximum brightness occurs of course when the two are not eclipsed, with each one adding its luminosity to the total output. Two minima also occur: the principal minimum is when the companion blocks out the primary; while a secondary minimum occurs when the companion is eclipsed by the primary.

The only interesting Mira-type regular variable is U Orionis, which usually has a brightness of 4.8 but every 368.3 days it drops down to 13. In 2000 the minimum is scheduled to occur on 5 December.

Objects in Orion:

M42, The Orion Nebula is perhaps the most photographed deep sky object in the heavens, a vast nebula of gas and dust exquisitely lit by surrounding stars.

This is a celestial nursery; soon (that's to say, in several hundred million years) young stars will appear from this wealth of cosmic matter.

Inside the nebula is the fascinating four-star system known as The Trapezium: theta 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D - four stars held together by common gravity (actually at least two other stars are part of this complex system.) They are visible in medium sized telescopes and, with the nebula, form one of the most beautiful binary systems in the heavens.

M43 (NGC 1982) is a detached part of the Orion Nebula, with a ninth magnitude central star. A dark lane of gas separates M43 from M42, although the two are actually part of the same vast cloud.
M78 (NGC 2068) is a faint reflection nebula NE of Alnitak (zeta Ori), that looks best in long-exposure photographs.

The Horsehead Nebula is an intriguing and devilishly difficult dark nebula found just between zeta Orionis and sigma Orionis, visible in medium to large telescopes given the right sky conditions. An H-Beta filter is also helpful.

Planetary Destinations In Orion

MAPPING TECHNIQUE

VISUAL EXERCISE : Two Person Exercise.
DESTINATION : Your Choice

STEP ONE
Traveller : Get comfortable and relax.

STEP TWO
Traveller : Charge your physical body with light energy.

STEP THREE
Traveller : See your visual body standing in front of your physical body and prepare your visual body for interstellar travel with a Interstellar Protection Shield.

STEP FOUR
Traveller : See your visual body filling with light energy.

STEP FIVE
Traveller : Focus your mind on teleporting your visual body to the Your Destination.

STEP SIX
Traveller : Then see your visual body teleporting to the Your Destination.

STEP SEVEN
Traveller : When you arrive in the destination Look around can you see any planets or moons in the System? If not use the Interstellar Planetary Detection Rapid and see if you can detect any planets or moons in that system.

STEP EIGHT
Traveller : If you can see or detect a planet or moon using Telekinesis or Teleportation move towards the planetary body.

STEP NINE
Traveller : When you arrive at the outer atmosphere of the planet or moon stop and ask your spiritual guide to tell you the name of this planet or moon.
Traveller : Tell the mapper the name of the planet or moon. Also tell the mapper all you can about the planet or moon.

STEP TEN
Then us the Core Comparison Crystal Technique to perform a core reading on this planet or moon and give the mapper your reading on this planet or moon

STEP ELEVEN
Traveller : Then levitate or Teleport your visual body to the surface of the planet or moon.

STEP TWELVE
Mapper : When the traveller arrives on the surface ask the following questions.
Is there any plant life or water on the surface of the planet or moon that you can see?  Is there an atmosphere around this planet or moon?  Is the atmosphere an match with earths atmosphere?
Mapper : Write down the answers to these questions.

PLANETARY DATA FILE

STEP THIRTEEN
Traveller : When you are finished on the surface teleport your visual body to the nearest planetary body that you can see in that Galaxy.

STEP FOURTEEN
Traveller and Mapper : Follow steps nine through to twelve again till you have mapped out the whole Galaxy.

STEP FIFTEEN
Traveller : When you have finished mapping the Galaxy teleport your visual body back to your physical body back on earth.

REMEMBER
When you are travelling if you come across an alien race that you think may be friendly feel free to make contact with that alien race.

IMPORTANT
When you are contacting alien races always be ready to teleport if there is trouble.

MAPPER
Make a note of any planets or moons with an atmospheric match with earths. That way you both know which planets can support human life forms.

MAPPER & TRAVELLER
To check that your mapping of that Galaxy is correct by changing roles and do this exercise again.
Also remember to check for life force energy around the planets or moons that you visit on your journeys. Because if you can feel life force energy that means the planet or moons is a real planet or
moon.