Orion
The most recognisable constellation: a hunter with a belt of three stars.
Look for three bright stars in a short, straight row — Orion's Belt. Above it are his shoulders (red Betelgeuse and Bellatrix), below are his knees (blue Rigel and Saiph).
Hanging from the belt is a fuzzy patch, the Orion Nebula: a cloud where new stars are being born right now, 1,300 light-years away.
Facts
- Also called
- The Hunter
- How to find it
- Three stars in a row, high in the south on winter evenings
- Best seen
- December to March, evenings