The Orion constellation or Orion nebula is one of the most famous constellations in the cosmos. It is a group of stars that can be identified relatively easily, especially if observed from somewhere in the northern hemisphere.
Orion’s belt looks similar to a hunter’s belt.
This constellation presents three main stars in a row as if it were a belt (Mintaka, Ainilam and Alnitak) and the set of stars that make it up resemble a human figure with open arms and a shield appears at the end of one of them. The legs of the Orion figure are formed by two stars, Saiph and Rigel. The shoulders, also known as the hunter’s shoulders, are made up of Betelgeuse and Bellatrix. Faking the head is Meissa.
In this way, if the lines of the different Orion stars are put together, you can distinguish the silhouette of a hunter who wears a belt in the middle of his body.
The visual phenomenon that compares the geometric distribution of stars with human or animal figures is known as asterism.
Orion’s belt has a similarity to the position of the Egyptian pyramids
The distribution of the stars has fascinated humanity since the most remote times. In this sense, Orion’s belt and its different denominations (the Three Wise Men or the Three Marys) are striking because the inclination of its three stars resembles the inclination of the three pyramids of Giza in Egypt.
The story of the son of a God
In the stories of Greek mythology Orion is one of the children of the God Poseidon and Euriale. Orion was a hunter with a proud, temperamental and unkind character. One day he fell in love with a princess and decided to talk to his father to ask for the hand of his daughter. The father told him that he could marry if he showed his courage and proposed that he kill the animals that endangered his kingdom.
Orion killed all the wild beasts and went to meet the king, but he had escaped with his daughter, because all he wanted was to deceive Orion and kill the beasts. Orion got so angry at the deception that he began to hunt all the animals that he found in his path. Faced with this situation, the goddess Gea, Mother Earth, tried to get Orion to stop hunting indiscriminately, but he ignored her.
The goddess Gaia sent a scorpion to speak to Orion, but the proud hunter trampled the animal and ended up poisoned by its sting. Sick and hurt Orion went to ask Zeus for help and the god of gods made the hunter and some animals go to live forever in heaven. However, Zeus did something else, sending the scorpion to the skies with Orion.
Photos: Fotolia – ddemartin / procy_ab
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