The Orion Constellation is the most prominent constellation in the winter and spring sky. These stars serve as pointers to find other objects in the sky.

The upper left star is Betelgeuse which is a huge red giant star. If it was put where our sun is, the surface would reach out to the planet Jupiter, five times further from the sun as our planet Earth. To the right of Betelgeuse is the star Bellatrix, these two star represent the shoulders of Orion. Below these two stars are three stars in a row that make up the belt of Orion, they are Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka. Below the belt of Orion, if you are in a dark area, you can see the sword of Orion which is a nebula. A nebula is a cloud in space of dust and gas. In this cloud is what is referred to as a star nursery because there are several new baby stars which are only a few million years old. To the lower left is the star Saiph and to the right is the star Rigel which represent the knees of Orion. Names of stars are taken from the Arabic language and the names have never been changed.

A line from Rigel up through Betelgeuse points to the stars Castor and Pollux in the constellation of Gemini. Through the stars of the belt up to the right, point to the bright star Aldebaran in the center of the constellation Taurus the bull. A little further up is a group of stars called the Pleiades. Down and to the left the three stars of the belt point to the star Sirius in the constellation Canis Major, Sirius is known as the “Dog Star”. The top two stars from Bellatrix through Betelgeuse point to the star Procyon in the constellation Canis Minor.

Though stars group together to form constellations, each of the stars are different distances from us here on Earth. If you were on the star Aldebaran, the Orion constellation would look nothing like it does to us here. To find Orion in the evening after dark, look south and you should see that familiar figure in the sky and use these directions to find these other constellations. Some of the other stars for the constellations mentioned are hard to impossible to see, especially if you are not in a really dark location. The only star in Canis Minor that can be seen is Procyon, even if you are in a dark location.

On April 8th the Ponca City Astronomy club will hold a Sidewalk Astronomy Event at the RecPlex from 7:00 PM till 9:00 PM and on April 9th there will be another event at the Lake Ponca Campground. These events are for the public and are free. For more information call Richard at 580-352-5292 or email to richard74601@gmail.com.