Wednesday, January 8, 2025

The Stars of Orion's Belt (evening)

The three stars in Orion's belt may look the same at a glance, but they are actually quite different under closer inspection. Magnitude 1.85 Alnitak (Zeta Orionis) on the left and magnitude 1.65 Alnilam (Epsilon Orionis) in the
center shine at almost the same brightness, though Alnilam is almost twice as far away. The magnitude 2.4 star Mintaka (Delta Orionis) on Orion's right hip is quite a bit fainter. Alnitak is blue, while the other two stars are whiter in color. In a telescope, Alnitak (Arabic for "the Girdle") is revealed to be
a very tightly spaced double star, while Mintaka is a more widely spaced pair. Using binoculars look for a large, upright, S-shaped asterism of dim stars in the space between Alnilam and Mintaka. Sigma Orionis the medium-bright star shining less than a finger's width to the lower right (or 0.8 degrees
southwest of) Alnitak, is a beautiful little grouping of ten or more stars
when viewed under magnification.

(Data courtesy of Starry Night)
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