Niall Cummins

Harrison
Elementary Astronomy; Phys 1040
Peer Review due 4/16/16

Orion: The Hunter

Mythology
Orion is the son of the God of the Sea, Neptune. His mother is the great huntress, Queen
Euryale of the Amazons. Orion was much stronger than any mortal man. He was also the greatest
hunter who ever walked on planet Earth. He had two dogs that he would take hunting with him
wherever he went. These two dogs were Canis Major, and Canis Minor. (7, 8)
Orion had many feats throughout the course of his life. Not only was he an amazing
hunter, but also an amazing craftsman. He crafted two temples with his hands, as tribute to the
gods. One of his temples is located in the subterranean. He built this fabulous temple to honor
Vulcan, the God of Fire. He built another temple to honor his father, Neptune, off of the coast of
Sicily. (7)
The legend of Orion begins here. One day, while Orion was hunting in the land of Chios,
he eyed a beautiful maiden by the name of Merope. After speaking with this woman, he learned
that Merope was the Princess of Chios, and her father, Oenopion, was the King. (7, 8)
The land of Chios was a wild place, crawling with all sorts of wild beasts that were
tormenting and killing the people of Oenopions kingdom. In a brave and valiant effort to win
Oenopions approval so he could wed Merope, Orion slayed every beast in the land. His efforts
were fruitless, as Oenopion still would not consent to Orion and Meropes relationship. (7)
In a madden outrage, Orion decided to kidnap Merope from the land of Chios and wed
here elsewhere. He killed the men guarding Merope, and was about to leave when Oenopion
stopped him. (7)

Oenopion decided to give Orion another chance, and invited him over for a feast. The
King made sure that Orion had plenty to drink that night, and in vengeance for the lives Orion
had taken, the King blinded him and cast him out of Chios. (7)
Orion took his dogs to guide him, and had them lead him to Lemnos, an island of the
Aegean Sea. While in Lemnos, Orion stumbled upon a forge. This forge belonged to the Smith
God, Hephaestus. Hephaestus saw into Orions blind eyes and forged a plan to help Orion regain
his sight. (7)
Hephaestus guided Orion to the easternmost part of Lemnos in the middle of the night in
order to wait for the rising sun. Just before dawn, Orion began blindly staring towards the east.
As the sun began to rise, Helios healed his eyes. Once Orion regained his sight, he also regained
his courage and will to fight. He vowed on that day to slay every beast on the face of the Earth.
Mother Earth was not happy with Orions promise, and she soon began planning a way to stop
him. (7, 8)
Orions next journey was in Crete, where he hunted with the Goddess Artemis. He began
killing every creature he saw before him, his rage from the loss of Merope still burning in his
heart. While on this infamous hunt, Mother Earth finished her preparations and sent a colossus
scorpion to the surface of Earth and ordered it to kill Orion. The scorpion succeeded in the battle,
killing Orion with its massive stinger. (8)
Artemis mourned the loss of Orion, and turned to Zeus for help. She asked Zeus to place
Orion in the Heavens for all to see. Zeus consented to this and agreed to place him in the skies
under one condition: the scorpion which killed him had to be placed there as well. Orions dogs
were also placed in the heavens, right beside him. (8)

The constellation of Orion is of Greek and Roman origin. There are many variants and
interpretations of his story. In other variants, he is killed by Artemis during the hunt, and in
others he never dies. The legend of Orion dates back to 8th century BC. Tales of his feats were
passed down from generation to generation. The earliest found writings of Orion are in Homers
Iliad and Hesiods Astronomia. (6)
Constellation
The Orion constellation is located north of the celestial equator. IT is the 26th largest
constellation, occupying an area of 594 degrees. In the northern hemisphere Orion is most visible
during December and January at about 10 PM. To spot the center of Orion, youll need to
position your telescope at right ascension 5h 35.2M, and declination -04 26. (1, 6)
While looking at Orion, it is very easy to make out Orions belt, which is made of three
very bright stars. These stars are named Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka. (6)
The two brightest stars in Orion are Betelgeuse and Rigel, which happen to be some of
the brightest stars in Earths sky. Rigel is the 7th brightest star in our sky, not including Sol, with
an Apparent Magnitude of just 0.18. Betelgeuses apparent magnitude fluctuates from 0.0 to 1.3,
with its average at 0.42. Because of Betelgeuses fluctuation, sometimes it is the brightest star in
the constellation. Betelgeuse marks Orions armpit, just below his raised sword. It is a red
supergiant, and is very easy to see on any night. Rigel is located in Orions foot, on the right side.
(2, 6)
To the lower left of Orion is his dog, Canis Major, which Canis Minor is closely
following behind. Moving clockwise, youll see Monoceros to his left, Gemini just to the left of

Orions sword, Taurus directly above him, Eridanus to the right of him, and Lepus directly below
him.(6)
Orions Stars
Name

RA

DEC

Vis. Mag.

Distance (ly)

Spectral
Class

Rigel

5h14m32.27s

-08 12 05.9

0.18

773

B8Ia+B9V+B
9V (Triple
Star)

Betelgeuse 5h55m10.29s

+07 24 25.3

0.42

643

M2Ib

Bellatrix

5h25m7.87s

+06 20 59.0

1.64

243

B2III

5h36m12.81s

-01 12 06.9

1.69

1342

B0Ia

Alnilam

Alnitak A

5h40m45.52s

-01 56 33.3

1.88

817

O9.7Ib

Saiph

5h47m45.39s

-09 40 10.6

2.07

721

B.05Ia

Mintaka AB 5h32m00.40s

-00 17 56.7

2.20

916

B0III+O9V

Ori

-05 54 35.6

2.75

1325

O9III

4h49m50.14s

+06 57 40.5

3.19

26

F6V

Ori

5h24m28.62s

-02 23 49.7

3.35

901

BIV+B2

Meissa A

5h35m08.28s

+09 56 03.0

3.47

1055

O8III

Ori

5h17m36.40s

-06 50 39.8

3.59

554

B5III

5 Ori

4h54m15.10s

+02 26 26.4

3.71

1342

B2III

Ori AB

5h38m44.77s

-02 36 00.2

3.77

1148

O9.5V

2 Ori

4h56m22.32s

+13 30 52.5

4.06

169

K2III

2 Ori

5h36m54.33s

+09 17 29.1

4.09

116

G8III

+09 38

4.12

152

N/A. Possible

3 Ori

Ori

5h35m25.98s
3

6h02m22.99s

50.5

Binary Star

29 Ori

5h23m56.84s

-07 48 28.6

4.13

174

G8III

32 Ori

5h30m47.05s

+05 56 53.6

4.20

288

B5V

4h50m36.72s

+08 54 00.9

4.35

194

A1V

2 Ori
(2, 9)

Interesting Features of Orion

In my opinion, the most fascinating part of Orion is the Orion Nebula, pictured above.
The Orion Nebula is cataloged as Messier 42. It is locates just south of Orions belt, and is
visible even to the naked eye. One of the reasons I find this nebula to be so fascinating is because
it is the closest and most easily observable star-forming region in our sky. Astronomers have
been able to observe protoplanetary disks, and massive movements of gas inside of this nebula.
(3, 4)

The Orion Nebula itself includes some interesting features. One of these is the Bowl. The
Bowl is an area that has been sculpted by stellar winds, and it glows brightly due to its ionizing
radiation. The rim of the bowl is clearly seen as a blue curved line moving from the bottom left
corner of the nebula, to the top right.(3)
In the center of the bowl is a celestial object dubbed The Trapezium. It is an area in
which four massive stars have formed. The combined force of these stars stellar winds are what
carved the Bowl. It is called the Trapezium because the four stars align to look like a trapezoid.
(3)
The large red ball in the upper left-hand part of the picture is the M43 region. This is
where the new star, M43, was formed. Many astronomers speculate that the surrounding ball of
red gas is what is left of M43s protoplanetary disk being pushed away by stellar winds. (3)
Rigel is the 7th brightest star in our night sky. It isnt just one star, however. It is actually a
triple star system! Recent studies have found that it could possibly be a quadruple star. Rigel A,
the main star that composes Orions right foot, is estimated to be anywhere from 120,000 to
280,000 times as luminous as our sun. This stars core has exhausted its supply of hydrogen and
has begun to swell. Its radius is estimated to be between 79 and 115 times as large as our sun. (2,
6)
Betelgeuse, although not as bright, is much larger than Rigel A. Its solar radii is listed as
667 times that of our suns, placing among the largest of stars ever found. It is so large that if Sol
was replaced by Betelgeuse, its surface would extend beyond the orbit of Jupiter. Betelgeuse is a
semiregular variable star, meaning that its apparent magnitude varies, as mentioned previously.
At 640 light years away from earth, Betelgeuses absolute magnitude is an astonishing -6.

Betelgeuse is a young star; only 10 million years old. Its sheer size has caused it to evolve
rapidly. After it was born 10 million years ago, gravitational conflicts with surrounding stars
ejected it from its birthplace, causing it to blast through space at about 30 km/s. This movement
caused the LL Orionis bow shock, which is visible in the Orion nebula. Betelgeuse is expected to
die in a glorious type II supernova sometime within the next million years. (2, 4)

Pictured on the
right is the Flame Nebula.
The Flame Nebula is
significant because of the
discoveries astronomers
have made while
observing it. Like the
Orion Nebula, the Flame
Nebula is a star-forming
region. Before extensive
observation and research
was done on the Flame
Nebula, astronomers
believed that all stars within a nebula form around the same time. The Flame Nebula challenged
this belief and eventually proved it wrong. Using X-ray data from Chandra, and infrared data
from Spitzer, NASA was able to date the stars within this nebula. It turns out that the stars in the
center are around 200,000 years old, while those on the outskirts are found to be about 1.5
million years old. (5)
Both the Flame and Orion nebulae are located in the Great Orion Molecular Cloud
Complex, is 1500 lightyears away and several hundred lightyears across. As seen from earth, it
spans nearly the entire length of Orion. (1, 5)
The largest part of the Great Orion Molecular Cloud Complex is Barnards Loop. This
massive, expanding, red cloud of dust covers the majority of the Orion Constellation. Barnards

Loop is thought to have formed in a

supernova which occurred approximately 2
million years ago. It extends over an
amazing 300 light years, and 10 degrees of
our sky. Within Barnards Loop is the Orion
Nebula and the Horsehead Nebula. (8)
The Orion constellation has been
fascinating people for a millennia. The
structures contained within Orion have been
aweing astronomers for hundreds of years. It
has helped us understand how planets and
stars are formed, and Im sure it will be the
source of many discoveries to come. (8)

Works Cited

1) "Orion Constellation." Constellation Guide. Web. <http://www.constellationguide.com/constellation-list/orion-constellation/>.

2) Darling, David. "Orion (abbr. Ori, Gen. Orionis)." Orion (constellation). Web.
<http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/O/Ori.html>.
3) "Image Tours: Orion Nebula." HubbleSite. Web.
<http://hubblesite.org/gallery/tours/tour-orion/>.
4) "LL Ori and the Orion Nebula." NASA. NASA. Web.
<https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_2442.html>.
5) "The Flame Nebula." NASA. NASA. Web.
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/multimedia/flame-nebula.html>.
6) Rees, Martin J., and Robert Dinwiddie. Universe: The Definitive Visual Guide. London:
Dorling Kindersley, 2005. Print.
7) "Orion." The Mythology of the Constellations:. Web.
<http://www.comfychair.org/~cmbell/myth/orion.html>.
8) "Orion (Constellation)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_(constellation)#Major_features>.
9) "List of Stars in Orion." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stars_in_Orion>.