#9 You can track almost all of winter sky with the Orion constellation
It's space Sunday! Let's talk about one of the most prominent winter constellation — the Orion, also mentioned as Mriga (Deer) in Rig Veda. Orion is the 'Hunter' constellation, it's visible all over the planet because of it's position above the equator. Orion also has one of the most brightest stars in the sky — Rigel and Betelgeuse.
Another reason why identifying the Orion is important is because you can map all the winter sky with that one constellation — that includes identifying the Canis major and minor, the Auriga constellation, the Gemini constellation, the brightest star 'Sirius' and the Taurus constellation. Check the below image to understand how. The white lines depict the shape of Orion (the shoulders, the belt, the legs, and the shield). The red arrows tell you the direction of various other constellations and stars. Lastly, check the blue circles, which are the celestial objects — The Orion Nebula (image at the end) and the Horsehead Nebula (check the cover image). A Nebula is the region where star formation takes place.
More about the constellation: The brightest star of Orion is Rigel (check the leg in the image), it's a blue supergiant and the 6th largest star in the night sky. The second brightest and the largest star in Orion is Betelgeuse, which is a red supergiant near to end of its life. Bellatrix is the 3rd brightest star in the Orion system and probably the closest one to us among others (245 light-years).
Now that you know about Orion and it's wintertime, try to locate the constellation and other paths in the southwestern part of the night sky.
Happy Sunday! :)