This site is maintained by the Astrophysics Communications teams at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. To the bottom right is the star Rigel. Discovered in 1983 and resembling nothing astronomers had ever discovered before, this cloud has been named the Leo Ring. Popularly called the Orion Nebula, this stellar nursery has been known to many different cultures throughout human history. But with a pair of binoculars, you can get a much more detailed view of the stellar nursery. This picture shows two different views of the constellation, The Big Dipper. What exactly are we looking at?Find us here too!Patreon: www.Patreon.. Scientists studying the Carina Nebula discovered jets and outflows from young stars previously hidden by dust. Saturn is the brightish yellow object below Venus and the bright red star Antares. The name denotes a hunter. They won't be closer until 2032! (Image credit: ESO/INAF-VST/OmegaCAM. The Lakota Native Americans call the asterism Tayamnicankhu and see it as the spine of a bison. One of Orion's legs is represented by the bright star Rigel, one of the brightest stars in the night sky. The star is a supernova candidate with a mass 24 times that of the Sun. This sparkling new image depicts a small section of the Carina Nebula, one of the NASA Hubble Space Telescopes most-imaged objects. Because of its brightness and prominent location just below Orions belt, you can even spot the Orion Nebula from Earth! First, you should spot Orion's Belt, which is made of three bright stars in a straight line. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope captured new views of the Southern Ring Nebula. The Thornborough Henges, an ancient monument complex in North Yorkshire, England, features a similar alignment. You can form his body by finding the famous three stars that make up his belt. Its blood has dripped on Tiburn Island in the Mexican state of Sonora, the traditional home of some clans of the Seri people. To find the Leo constellation, look for a cluster of bright stars. The lion is also one of the 15 "equatorial constellations," constellations intersect the celestial equator, the great circle of the celestial sphere which is on the same plane as the equator of Earth. The stars are evenly spaced and form a more or less straight line, which makes them easy to identify. Orions Belt and Sword are called Naagarda (a plough). This differs a bit from the astrology dates for the zodiac where they consider the Sun to be in Taurus from July 23 to August 22. Do you ever look up at the night sky and get lost in the stars? The year is divided into months, days, hours, minutes and seconds. This event occurred during the hottest time of year, also when the sun entered Leo. The Sphinx views the eastern horizon, its counterpart in the sky is Leo, the lion shaped asterism created in the stars indexed with the star Regulus. The color picture was composited from digitized black and white photographic plates recorded through red and blue astronomical filters, with a computer synthesized green channel. The Mori people of New Zealand call Orions Belt Tautoru, meaning a string of three. The asterism represents the stern in the constellation known as Te Waka o Rangi (the canoe of Rangi). Leo constellation position Right ascension: 11 hours Declination: 15 degrees Visible between latitudes: 90 and minus 65 degrees Best seen: April at 9 p.m. Leo is the 12th largest of all the. The Rosette Nebula (C49), Hubbles Variable Nebula (NGC 2261), and the Cone Nebula with the Christmas Tree Cluster (NGC 2264) appear in the region between Betelgeuse and Procyon. The Aymara people of the Andean highlands in Bolivia, Chile and Peru see the Belt of Orion as a celestial bridge connecting the northern and southern celestial hemispheres. This star is located on the ecliptic, the path of the Sun and planets in our sky. GrahamHancock.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to products on Amazon. Consider how a car looks from the side and from the back. Image from Stellarium: Southern Cross and Orion (Click on image to enlarge) In February, Orion rises in the east rather early - about 4 pm. Orion's Belt is an asterism of three stars that appear about midway in the constellation Orion the Hunter. We determined the Sphinx and Leo are counterparts, witness marks, as above so below. Alnilam ( Orionis) is a supergiant, approximately 2,000 light-years away from Earth and magnitude 1.70. If you are new around here and you want to get started with the hobby, check out our astronomy for beginners guide or the recommended gear page. The rest of the sickle of Leo, visible to the southeast after sunset, is made up of the fainter stars Leo (Adhafera), Leo (Ras Elased Borealis), and Leo (Ras Elased Australis). They are characters in the 19th-century national epic Kalevala by Elias Lnnrot. So, after reading the Orion book (which is an amazing book, for those who have not read it, I truly recommend it), I decided to re-read the WPP, since the papers have a lot of details, and then read the Orion book again. With an effective temperature of about 29,500 K, it shines with 250,000 solar luminosities. It is one of the three fire signs of the Zodiac ruled by the sun. The center of the spiral locates The Great Orion Nebula, M42. The constellation was mentioned as MULSIPA.ZI.AN.NA in the Babylonian star catalogues of the Late Bronze Age. Believed to be the cosmic fire of creation by the Maya of Mesoamerica, M42 blazes brightly in the constellation Orion. The constellation figure of Orion, image: Stellarium. So if Orion's over there, then directly on the other side, you can look for Ursa Major, or the Plow, which is a small part of that . In my book The Giza Template: Temple Graal, Earth Measure, I lay out a defined blueprint for the Giza Plateau based on the idea that Giza was created as a repository for advanced scientific knowledge. This collection of stars, an open star cluster called NGC 1858, was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. Constellations are formed of bright stars which appear close to each other on the sky, but are really far apart in space. It was originally a Google Labs apps so you know it os good. The primary component (Delta Ori Aa1) is part of a triple star system that also contains a hot blue B-type main sequence star (Delta Ori Aa2) and a B-type subgiant star (Delta Ori Ab). It lies approximately 2,000 light-years away. Find the lion constellation Leo in the southeast after around 9pm. Next time you go stargazing, remember that theres more to the constellations than meets the eye. The good news is it does work all year round (except when Leo is not visible) so you dont have to wait for any specific window of time. Orion is best seen during the northern hemisphere winter, while Scorpius is prominent in the summer sky, when Orion stays below the horizon. An asterism is a group of stars that form a certain shape but arent recognized officially as constellations. Orions Sword lies in the region between the Belt and the feet. Once you enter this information, just press go and the mount will re-align itself to the location you want it pointed at. Hapj consists of three stars: Hap (mule deer), Haamoja (pronghorn), and Mojet (bighorn sheep). It follows the naming convention of these groupings taking its name from an animal. The story behind the name: The pattern in the constellation Orion was recognized as a human figure by many ancient cultures. The constellation of Orion, as it can be seen by the naked eye. Nicknamed the Stonehenge of the North, the complex contains three henges that appear to mirror the alignment of Orions Belt. Hubble sees strange changes in asteroid dust after DART collision (video), Does the moon need its own time zone? Look for the three stars in a straight line that mark his belt, the two stars that mark his shoulders, and the two stars of his feet. New York, On the morning of January 4, the crescent . Several smaller reflection nebulae appear near Alnilam and Mintaka. It is the faintest star of Orions Belt and the only one that is not a supergiant. Against an inky black backdrop, the blue swirls of spiral galaxy NGC 6956 stand out radiantly in this Hubble image. The illustration reconstructs the relative positions of Orion's bright stars, including data from the Hipparcus catalog of parallax distances. That means you can see it from Argentina, and all the way to the North Pole. No one is known by just their belt. Orion is one of the oldest constellations in the sky. Explained in detail are the origins of the system of metrology pertaining to the Earth and its measure. The nebula has an apparent magnitude of 10. A line extended through the Big Dippers bowl leads to Castor, the second brightest star in Gemini. Chelsea Gohd, Jeanette Kazmierczak, and Barb Mattson Composed of mostly molecular hydrogen, the Leo Ring is so vast it is six times wider than the Milky Way. 2019-2023 Little Astronomy. He also writes about science communication for Elsevier and the European Journal of Physics. It has a radius of 16.5 solar radii and a luminosity 190,000 times that of the Sun. The word 'constellation' comes from the Latin 'constellacio' which means 'set of stars'. The nebula is only 1,500 light-years away, making it the closest large star-forming region to Earth and . Mintaka, Delta Orionis ( Ori), is the rightmost star of Orions Belt (leftmost when seen from the southern hemisphere). Its other non-zodiac constellation neighbors are Coma Berenices, Crater, Hydra, Leo Minor, Lynx, Sextans, and Ursa Major. So, it's a reasonable to think the distances between the monuments had no connection to the spacing between of the three stars of Orion's Belt. In the northern hemisphere, the Hunter stands upright. Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! Orions Belt and the constellation Orion have been known since prehistoric times. Monoceros in this case is saying multiple centers, and demonstrates that precisely with the design of the asterism pointing to two centers. Orion is one of the most recognizable constellations in the sky. In the modern age, Leo is the home in the sky of a wealth of objects of great scientific interest meaning skywatchers and astronomers today are as fascinated with the lion as were antiquity's astrologers and myth-weavers. Aldebaran appears as a member of the V-shaped Hyades cluster, which outlines the head of the Bull, but is much closer to us than the cluster. It is 1,344 light yearsdistant and at the center of the nebula are four stars, known as "The Trapezium" which help to light up much of the nebula. One of the most recognizable constellations in the sky is Orion, the Hunter. In geometry one point can be seen as a center point or axis. From the moment you saw Orion's belt, you are going to receive divine direction. Orion stars were associated with the god Sah. It is located in orbit of two galaxies in the center of the Leo group of galaxies within the Constellation of Leo. The Leo Ring, a cloud of hydrogen and helium gas, orbits of two dwarf galaxies. The stars that appear to be hanging from the Belt are known as Kalevanmiekka (Kalevas sword). It posits that there is a correlation between the location of the three largest pyramids of the Giza pyramid complex and Orion's Belt of the constellation Orion, and that this correlation was intended as such by the original builders of the Giza pyramid complex. In local lore, the mule deer (Hap) is in the centre and has been shot by the hunter. This Hubble image captures the open cluster NGC 376 in the Small Magellanic Cloud. The Sphinx is located in the 21st square within the 8 x 8 square, this square is divided by 32 vertically, and 54 horizontally, as dictated by the Template coordinates. HD 20745 is a orange to red giant star that can be located in the constellation of Eridanus. Orion and Scorpius are never seen in the sky at the same time. In order to find the coordinates for a star, you can use an online catalogue that will calculate everything for you depending on your location. This is not by chance, but by intentional design of the architects, astronomers and scientists who created the Giza repository. The constellation Orion is depicted as the human figure of a hunter chasing a hare (Lepus) with his two dogs (Canis Major and Canis Minor) or, alternatively, facing the charge of the Bull (Taurus). There are a number of luminous galaxies within Leo, including the Leo triplet of M66, M65 and NGC 3628. The secondary component, Zeta Orionis Ab (Alnitak Ab), is not as evolved, but it has also come to the end of its main sequence lifetime. In Scandinavian lore, Orions Belt is known as Friggs Distaff (Friggerock) or Freyas Distaff. A similar correspondence was discovered in the ruins of the ancient city of Teotihuacn, which lies 35 miles northeast of Mexico City. Three bright stars in a diagonal line in the middle of a bright rectangle decorate Orion's belt which points northward to the bright orange star . The star-forming nebula Messier 43 (De Mairans Nebula) lies next to the Orion Nebula. . The binary star is sometimes referred to as Alnitak A. The brightest of these objects, the Orion Nebula (Messier 42), lies below Orions Belt and is part of an asterism known as Orions Sword. Among Orion's best-known features is the "belt," consisting of three bright stars in a line, each of which can be seen without a . Here we see how the three main pyramids on the 9 x 9 Template are indexed on a mirrored image of Orion with his three belt stars. Leo Leo was one of the earliest constellations to be recognized and recorded, evidence suggests as early as 4000 BCE. Orion is bordered by Taurus to the northwest, Eridanus to the southwest, Lepus to the south, Monoceros to the east, and Gemini to the northeast. It lies at a similar distance to M42 and M43. These objects are part of the larger Orion Molecular Cloud Complex, a vast star-forming region that stretches across most of the constellation Orion. Now that we know a little bit more about constellations, lets talk about the supercool cosmic objects that form them stars! For this reason, Orions Belt looks more or less the same as it did millennia ago. It is one of the most easily noticed and recognizable constellations in the night sky. Celestial Wonders in Leo, Night Sky Network, NASA, [Accessed 12/13/22], [https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/news-display.cfm?News_ID=948 (opens in new tab)], Leo Constellation, Constellation Guide, [Accessed 12/13/22], [https://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/leo-constellation/ (opens in new tab)], Leo, Britannica, [Accessed 12/13/22], [ https://www.britannica.com/place/Leo-constellation (opens in new tab)], A 40-year-long mystery: heavy elements unveil the origin of the giant Leo Ring, ESO, [2021], [https://www.eso.org/public/blog/heavy-elements-unveil-origin-of-leo-ring/ (opens in new tab)], Nile River, National Geographic, [https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/nile-river (opens in new tab)]. The bright, bluish-white star Regulus (the lion's heart) should catch your eye first. But don't worry, Betelgeuse is about 550 light-years away, so this event wouldn't be dangerous to us but it would be a spectacular sight. Just think of all the worlds you may be seeing when you look up at the night sky! All registered. nearly 60 above the horizon. Once you have found Regulus, the rest of the lion should be titled about 90 like it is shown in the illustration above. Orion's belt also appears in Egyptian mythology. The apparent positions of its stars in two dimensions create a well-known pattern on the bowl of planet Earth's night sky. Perhaps an easier, but way less fun way to locate a constellation than buying an expensive telescope mount is simply using a device you already have: your phone. Space is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. At the center of this square is the number 2592, again confirming the precessional number. Pahl takes a journey to find all of Orion, not just . They have a combined apparent magnitude of 1.77. 9. Hubble observations have shown the Betelgeuse is slowly recovering from this event, closest large star-forming region to Earth, Hubble's New View of the Tarantula Nebula, Hubble Views a Stellar Duo in Orion Nebula, NASA's Fermi Detects First Gamma-Ray Eclipses From Spider' Star Systems, NASA's Webb Uncovers Star Formation in Cluster's Dusty Ribbons, The Enduring Stellar Lifecycle in 30 Doradus, Hubble Gazes at Colorful Cluster of Scattered Stars, Chandra Sees Stellar X-rays Exceeding Safety Limits, Two Exoplanets May Be Mostly Water, NASA's Hubble and Spitzer Find, NASA's Webb Unveils Young Stars in Early Stages of Formation, Hubble's Sparkling New View of the Carina Nebula, Hubble Captures Dual Views of an Unusual Star Cluster, NASA's Webb Indicates Several Stars Stirred Up' Southern Ring Nebula, Hubble Beholds Brilliant Blue Star Cluster, Hubble Spots Bright Splash of Stars Amid Ripples of Gas and Dust, Hubble Observes an Outstanding Open Cluster, Hubble Spies Emission Nebula-Star Cluster Duo, Hubble Views a Cloud-Filled, Starry Scene, Hubble Spies Sparkling Spray of Stars in NGC 2660, Astronomers See Stellar Self-Control in Action, Baby Star 'Burps' Tell Tales of Frantic Feeding, NASA Data Shows, Chelsea Gohd, Jeanette Kazmierczak, and Barb Mattson. These include IC 423 and IC 426. Most of the constellations with which we are familiar come from ancient Greece. Alnilam was reported to be surrounded by a reflection nebula catalogued as NGC 1990 by William Herschel in 1786. Like Betelgeuse, Rigel is much larger and heavier than our Sun. The upper zone is ruled by the star Betelgeuse. Now when Leo goes overboard, yes, they can be egomaniacs and, ta Continue Reading 3 John Wo Aircraft/Spacecraft systems Designer Upvoted by Quora User The pyramids are believed to be 4,500 years old. In addition to newborn stars, Orion also has some other awesome cosmic objects hanging around. Afrikaans speakers in South Africa know Orions Belt as Drie Konings (Three Kings) or the Drie Susters (Three Sisters). Alnitak is a hot blue supergiant of the spectral type O9.5Iab. Shots taken between 31 December 2021, 1 and 2 January 2022. The same line drawn past Aldebaran leads to the Pleiades, another exceptionally bright open cluster. The Belt of Orion is one of the three prominent asterisms that define the constellation figure of Orion, along with Orions Sword and Orions Shield. Two bright planets meet while the Moon makes a close pass of Mars from February 24 to March 3. The orange giant marks the Bulls eye. Orion belongs to the Orion family of constellations, along with Canis Major, Canis Minor, Lepus and Monoceros. According to this theory, the sphinx represents the constellation Leo, and the Nile is the milky way. In fact, the big dipper is part of the Ursa Major (big bear) constellation. The asterism designed within the constellation of Monoceros points to the center of the spiral and the alignment of the center of the galaxy on the ecliptic, behind the Sun and Earth as viewed from the Sphinx on 12/21/2012 at 16:00 hrs after sunrise. Scientists have discovered exoplanets, or planets outside of our solar system, orbiting stars there. A complex of about 16 pyramids near the ancient city of Xian in China features three pyramids that align similarly to the stars of Orions Belt. It is formed by three points of light: the young star 42 Orionis and the Running Man Nebula (NGC 1977), the bright Orion Nebula (Messier 42) with the Trapezium Cluster, and the multiple star system Iota Orionis, which is part of the open cluster NGC 1980. Type above and press Enter to search. If you join the dots stars, in this case and use your imagination, the picture would look like an object, animal, or person. Thus, the constellation Leo. The young Trapezium Cluster at the centre of the nebula can be observed in small telescopes. The best time of the year to observe Orions Belt and the deep sky objects in Orion is during the month of January. Spiritually, light is a sign of direction. The asterism and the constellation dominate the evening sky from November to February. Constellation . We may never detect it, though, because no light can escape black holes, making them invisible. Orions Belt, Orions Sword, Orion Nebula and Orions Shield, image: Stellarium. They can observe the behavior of material and stars that are very close to black holes, helping scientists find clues that can lead them closer to discovering some of these most bizarre and fascinating objects in the cosmos. The proponents of the Orion correlation theory have also suggested that Orions orientation to the Milky Way matches the pyramids orientation to the river Nile, but this has been a matter of debate. The three bright blue stars Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka outline the belt in the constellation figure of the celestial Hunter. Orion is home to 2 meteor showers When the primary component eclipses the secondary, the brightness drops from magnitude 2.23 to 2.29, and when the primary star is eclipsed by the secondary, the brightness decreases to magnitude 2.35. With an apparent magnitude of 4.0, the nebula is easily visible to the unaided eye on a clear night. Site Managers: Have Any Astronauts Been Lost in Space Forever? Learn about some of the brightest northern constellations: Orion, the Big Dipper, and Cassiopeia. NEWMAGICFOR THE NEWAGE Daring to challenge old stereotypes and misconceptions surrounding magical practice, New Millenni. In ancient Egypt, it was believed that Orion's Belt was the constellation symbol of Osiris and that they were reflected by the three great pyramids meant to symbolize and be used as a gateway for the Egyptian Pharaohs to cross from the mortal life into the afterlife. The stars spectrum also varies, possibly because of the dramatic mass loss that it is experiencing. Orion dominates the evening sky during the northern hemisphere winter. They know that the monsoon comes when Tipan appears at sunset. The ecliptic, the circle in green is over-laid with the Template at 7/13 concentrically within the Template circle. An asterism is a figure drawn in the stars by connecting one star to another that is usually a human, animal, or an instrument and used to relate to stories that pass down information through the ages. Leo lies between the constellations Cancer to the west and Virgo to the east at 11 hours right ascension and 15 north declination. It consists of three bright stars: Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka (or Delta Orionis, actually a complex star system). Taken using 300mm and 200mm vintage telephoto lenses. The name Mintaka is derived from the Arabic manaqa, meaning belt.. Appearing as three stars in a row, Orions Belt stars lie more than 1,000 light-years away and are among the brightest stars in the sky. Less so, now, with new findings from NASAs Webb. In Australia and New Zealand, the constellation figure of Orion appears upside down, and Orions Belt and Sword are sometimes called the Saucepan or the Pot. A snapshot of the Tarantula Nebula is featured in this image from Hubble. Using these six divisions of time, a calendar date was assigned using a binary date to the alignment of the Galactic Center with the Sun and Earth. The primary component, Zeta Orionis Aa, is formally known as Alnitak. 5 Replies to "What Are the Stars in Orion's Belt?" Steven says: January 28, 2015 at 9:14 AM. This is a Stellarium circular view of the ecliptic and the 13 Zodiac constellations with Orion at sunrise on 12/21/2012 0hr 0min 0sec. A fierce monster of Greek mythology, Hercules or Heracles had to battle the beast as part of his first of 12 labors. Learn about some of the brightest northern constellations: Orion, the Big Dipper, and Cassiopeia. A new studying using data from NASA's retired Spitzer Space Telescope has revealed new information about newborn stars. It is a single star located approximately 2,000 light-years away. The nebula is only 1,300 light-years away, making it the closest large star-forming region to Earth. I propose that our solar system, the star Sirius and the Pleiades star cluster system were birthed from the same stellar nebula, that being the Great Orion Nebula, M42. Orions Belt is the most conspicuous feature of the constellation Orion. She is, mostly, a winter constellation of the northern region of the planet. Their orientation to the Nile recreates Orion's orientation to the Milky Way. Triplet of bright galaxies in the constellation of Leo (The Lion), together with a multitude of fainter objects: distant background galaxies and much closer Milky Way stars. Leo is part of the twelve constellations that comprise the zodiac with the others being Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Virgo, Libra, Scorpius, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius, and Pisces. Constellations near Orions Belt, image: Stellarium. This movement defines and explains what we view as precession eliminating the outdated wobbling earth theory. The prow of the canoe extends to the Pleiades (Matariki). It is the 5th brightest star in the constellation Orion. We may need to decide soon, Your monthly guide to stargazing & space science, Subscribe today and save an extra 5% with code 'LOVE5', Issues delivered straight to your door or device. The Moon joins the planets early in January to make rather nice views. The constellation of Leo is also home to the radiant point, the point from which meteors appear to originate, of the Leonid meteor shower, which occurs each year around November as Earth passes through the debris left by Comet Tempel-Tuttle. Two of the three stars are supergiants. This makes it recognized worldwide. Two brighter stars to the north mark his shoulders, and two more to the south represent his feet. The three pyramids of the Giza pyramid complex mirrors Orion's Belt In ancient Egypt, it was believed that the kings and pharaohs would travel to Orion after death. The red crescent shape is Barnards Loop. But due to its giant mass, it leads a fast and furious life. The shapes you see all depend on your point of view.Many societies saw patterns among the stars with gods and goddesses or stories from their culture. Its constellation figure is formed by seven exceptionally bright stars: Betelgeuse, Bellatrix, Rigel, Saiph, and the three stars of Orion's Belt: Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka. One of the most prominent constellations of the night sky, Leo the Lion is visible from pretty much anywhere on Earth, except for Antarctica. It is the primary star in a triple star system located approximately 1,260 light-years away. In Spain and South America, Orions Belt stars are known as Las Tres Maras (Spanish) or As Trs Marias (Portuguese), meaning the Three Marys. The constellation is difficult to see from light-polluted areas, but it is well-known to stargazers because it contains several bright deep sky objects. The Orion Nebula (M42)is a huge cloud of dust and gasalmost 25 light-years across inside which new stars are being formed. Leo was an important constellation to the ancient Egyptians who associated it with the flooding of the Nile. Not all constellations in the sky are visible all year long. AstroBackyard explains (opens in new tab) how to get a stunning image of this triad of galaxies. The Nemean lion was so feared because while its golden mane protected it from any assault, its claws were sharper than any weapon forged by humanity. Video From The New Yorker Holy Holocaust: Family History Stands Between Two Friends After Professor Szczepaski's graceful acceptance speech, a vote is about to. Mintaka is a double star. The third Messier object in this region of the sky is the reflection nebula Messier 78. The brightest star in the curve of the sickle is Al Geiba, which means "the lion's mane." This is. In Greek mythology, it represents the giant huntsman Orion, who incurred the wrath of the goddess Gaia by saying that he would hunt down every animal on Earth. The Horsehead is backlit by the emission nebula IC 434 and is part of a large dust cloud catalogued as Lynds 1630 (LND 1630). In fact, the same line that you will use to find Regulus, also points to Polaris when extended in the opposite direction. The three stars of Orions Belt are members of the Orion OB1b group, a subgroup of the larger Orion OB1 association. We can see that the Lion asterism is created geometrically as all the constellations are, Regulus is intersecting the circle and the spiral, the Lions front and rear mark the spiral, its head aligned to the centerline or axis. The complex is believed to have been a part of a Neolithic and Bronze Age ritual site dating back to between 3500 BCE and 2500 BCE. The Sun appears directly above it during the equinoxes. The stars were seen as a metaphor for two people who could never unite. Looking like a glittering swarm of buzzing bees, the stars of globular cluster NGC 6440 shine brightly in this Hubble Space Telescope image. This implies that Sirius and the Pleiades are on a similar trajectory as our solar system. Mintaka ( Orionis) is 1,200 light-years away and shines with magnitude 2.21. This constellation can easily be located through Orion. Meissa (Lambda Ori) marks the head, Betelgeuse (Alpha Ori) and Bellatrix (Gamma Ori) the shoulders, Alnitak (Zeta Ori), Alnilam (Epsilon Ori) and Mintaka (Delta Ori) the belt, and Saiph (Kappa Ori) and Rigel (Beta Ori) the knees or feet. Alnitak ( Orionis) is a triple star system at the eastern end of Orions belt and is 1,260 light-years from the Earth. These are computerized telescope mounts with an input device where you can enter the exact coordinates of any given star. The easiest way to find Orion is to go outside on a clear night and look for three bright stars close together in an almost-straight line.