dipper@utastro.UUCP (Debbie Byrd) (01/15/86)
The second-most-famous constellation is Orion the hunter. More -- after this. January 15 Orion the Hunter If you only know one constellation, it's probably Ursa Major, which contains the Big Dipper. But if you know two, the second one is likely to be Orion. Orion the hunter is easy to pick out -- as easy as the Big Dipper and for the same reason! Its stars form a distinctive pattern -- now visible in the southern sky each evening. The first thing you might notice about the hunter is his belt. Three stars represent the belt. They're all about the same brightness -- and, although they're not exceptionally bright, they're noticeable because they're located in a short, straight row. Find three medium-bright stars in a row in the southern sky -- and you've probably found the belt of Orion. On either side of the belt, perpendicular to it, are two brighter stars. The reddish one to the north is called Betelguese, and it represents the hunter's shoulder. The blue-white star south of the belt is Rigel, the hunter's foot. So that's Orion the hunter -- the sky's second-most-famous constellation -- visible in January in the southern sky each evening. By the way, this is one constellation that's worth some effort to see in a very dark sky -- to get a sense of why the Greeks called Orion a hunter. In a dark sky, Orion looks very much like a giant man, holding a curved shield. He's using the shield to fend off the raging bull, Taurus, located in the area of sky directly above him. Script by Deborah Byrd. (c) Copyright 1985, 1986 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin