Orion - the one standing in or at the Milky Way -
galactic and Universal connections
Orion is so "visible" in the night sky - to me always a "sky navigating" constellation from autumn to spring (I'm at almost 19 degrees north of the equator)...
As Orion is a so called "equatorial" constellation, it's seen from most every place on Earth....
I think, even though Orion is no longer a constellation crossing the ecliptic (my guess is, it actually did in the far past), it's nevertheless an important constellation and that's further emphasized on by the fact that he's really standing there partly in and partly at the Milky Way / galactic equator...
In sidereal Astrology, Orion starts in sidereal Taurus and spans into or marks the start of sidereal Gemini.
Around 17° of Taurus the shield is becoming prominent - the body is like longside cut in half by the cusp-line of Taurus and Gemini.
In various cultures around the world, there was made the link between Orion’s belt or Orion in general and the stars of the constellation Scorpio – the “head” of the Scorpion does also contain 3 very visible stars in a raw (some smaller ones around too) and then a “line down” to Antares as the heart of the Scorpion. As seen from Earth, when one of these constellations is rising, the other is setting, when one is at highest culmination the other is at lower culmination.
Astrologically, as an “axis” / opposition I have often perceived these two constellations to symbolize as “what is mine and what is thine”… this can of course be applied to various levels and realms depending what planetary body or stars are involved… and of course, this also means stars or constellations surrounding these two constellations.
Planetary points in Orion:
(2024 heliocentric data)
Did you know, that the river of life starts right at Orion's "Taurus side foot".....
Orion stories, tales, mythology
Probably one of the most famous constellations as it's so easy to spot. I've heard that some Indigenous Americans see Orion as a Spider, which I can understand by observing the Orion rising, he looks more like a particular spider net, I photographed a few years ago and then, with it's path along the ecliptic, becomes "standing" later at night....
Many researchers and Scientists about the Pyramids and Sphinx in Giza saying, that they might be aligned to Orion - as a mapping system, also aligned with other places on Earth, which themselves correlate with other constellations....
In ancient Egypt, they thought Orion to be a "portal" to where the Souls would travel to after earthly death. Associated with the god Sah/Osiris.
In the emerald tablets of Thoth there is also a section that talks about a passage/border as a gate and guarded by two dogs (sounds a bit like Canis Major and Minor) - yet, that could be also a reference to Canes Venatici, north over Leo and its cusp with Virgo....
In Greek Mythology Orion is the Hunter (described in several tales).
Orion was a handsome giant granted the ability to walk on water by his father Poseidon (Neptune, yet various stories of parenthood around). He served king Oinopion as a huntsman and fell in love with the king’s daughter. He was blinded and exiled from the kingdom after raping the king’s daughter when intoxicated. Orion asked the god Hephaistos (son of Hera/Juno and Zeus/Jupiter) - the god of fire in its physical form and use for crafts and arts - for help, who sent him to Helio rising place and the Sun did restore his sight…..
Orion became a huntsman with Artemis (twin sister of Apollo) the goddess of hunt – there are many versions of the story, the outcome is usually the same, Orion was shot dead by Artemis and then put up into the sky – in some versions, she shot him in anger and in others, she was deceived / tricked by Apollo to shoot him….
Orion's shield
Is located in sidereal Taurus.
The stars all go under the designation Pi Orionis, containing number 1 to 7 because the 8th one is forming a visual double with the 5th one...
The 3rd one, forming the "tip" of the shield does have an actual name and that's Tabit (not to be confused with Thabit, which is south of the Orion's belt).
Tabit – Pi Orionis number 3 – at 16°55’47” sidereal Taurus ca. 15°23’ south of the ecliptic.
With an apparent magnitude of ca. 3.16 it’s visible to the naked eye. It shines yellowish white as a main sequence star. Tabit is about 1.236 times as massive as the Sun, 1.323 times the Sun’s radius and about 2.82 times as luminous. Tabit is far hotter than the Sun and is pretty old with a calculated age of ca. 1.4 billion years.
The name Tabit comes from Arabic, meaning “Al-Thabit “ – the endure and “the fixed / constant one”… In Chinese all the “Pi stars” were members of an asterism called “the banner of Three Stars”.
There are various “names” or meanings given to Tabit and the other stars of the shield. Some called them the “lion’s skin were”, or the Persians “Al Taj” translating to “the crown or tiara of the king”, then also “Al-Kumm” meaning the sleeve of the garment the giant is dressed in. Al Sufi also gave it a correlation to a protective “skin, mantle etc.”…
Pi Orionis 1 and 2 are also main sequence stars - both shine blueish white. Pi 1 is about 116 light years from the Sun and Pi 2 about 224. Whereas Tabit is near with only 26.32 light years away.
This gives us the "depth" of the whole figure, instead of it being just a "flat" drawing....
Pi Orionis 4, 5 and 6 are giant stars - Pi 6 shines orange/red and Pi 4 and 5 blueish white.
Orion's 4 main "corner stars"
Rigel, Bellatrix, Saiph and Betelgeuse
Rigel - Beta Orionis - 21°49’48” sid. Taurus - South 31°7’5’’
Is a blue supergiant star and the main star of a multiple (at least 4) star system. Rigel itself is a variable star with the mass of roughly 20 times the Sun, 70 times the Sun’s radius and around 120’000 times the Sun’s luminosity. It’s a young star with an estimated age of 8 million years.
There are two stars called Beta Orionis B and C, Beta Orionis B also got an “orbiting” companion star with an “orbital period” of almost 27 years. Rigel and these 3 companion stars, do orbit their barycenter (their common center of mass) with an orbital period of ca. 24’000 years.
Beta Orionis B and C are both blue main sequence stars. They do have similar mass and the companion of B is also a main sequence star with a bit less mass than B and C…
Interestingly, it seems difficult to “place” a distance to Rigel and its system – it’s thought to be roughly 863 light years away, which is the basis for the calculations of radius and luminosity. Newer studies suggest it could be actually be roughly 300 light years more distant. However, the currently thought absolute magnitude of Rigel is -7.84 (a full Moon ca. -12.6)…
Rigel’s spectral analysis suggest, he has exhausted the hydrogen core and has evolved towards the upper horizontal branch, gone through the “red supergiant phase” of expansion and cooling (which makes the stars appear red) and now kind of “come back” to heat up to be a blue supergiant again… for stars to fuse certain elements, lower temperatures are needed… there are several stages stars go through in their lives, but not all “end” the same… Rigel is thought to be one of those who will eventually end in a supernova to end up as a neutron star or a black hole… Even so, science knows a lot about the stars and the various types – yet, there’s still a lot unknown and therefore, a lot remains “mysterious”…
Rigel as a name is derived from the Arabic name Rijl Jauzah al Yusra “the left leg/foot of Jauzah”, also called Rijl al-Jabbar “the foot of the great one”…
Rigel was known all over the world, many cultures give it their names and meanings. Interestingly even as the daughter of Antares (chief of all stars) by the Māori people of New Zealand. And in southeastern Australia thought to be the mother in law of Altair…
Interesting - the “feminine” perceptions of Rigel.
Bellatrix - Gamma Orionis - 25°56’47” sid. Taurus - South 16°48’41"
Is for the moment believed to be a singular star. Bellatrix is a blueish white giant roughly 250 light years from the Sun. Bellatrix got about 7,7 times the mass of the Sun, 5.75 times the radius and 9’211 times the Sun’s luminosity. Bellatrix is thought to be around 25.2 million years old. It seems that Bellatrix has ended the hydrogen fusing stage of a main sequence star and evolved away – yet, there seems to be as much controversy about this as about whether or not there is a companion star (actually non has been detected yet).
Bellatrix comes from a Latin word that means “female warrior”, she’s also called the “Amazon star” – the Arabic name Al Najid which means the “Leader or Conqueror” and there are also several names referring to a or “the” lion and especially its roar. There are several references to “roaring” in general, which may apply to other animals as well or to the classical astrological interpretation of Bellatrix to be “speaking or roaring, commanding” something into “being”…
Saiph - Kappa Orionis - 1°23’55” sid. Gemini - South 33°3’58"
Saiph is a singular, blueish white supergiant star. Saiph is roughly 650 light years from the Sun and got 15.5 to 21 times the Sun’s mass, about 22 times the Sun’s radius and shines as bright as ca. 56’880 the Sun – yet, as this star is very hot, a lot of his actual light is in the invisible ultraviolet. It’s estimated age ranges between 6 to 11 million years….
Hmmm – yes, somehow these “blue supergiants” seem to be difficult to “calculate”….
Just as Rigel and others in Orion, also Saiph is a supergiant has evolved away from main sequence and that got enough mass, to one day explode as a supernova, transforming itself and the surrounding area…
Saiph is a name coming from its Arabic name Saif al-Jabbar meaning the giants sword – the problem here is the various styles of depictions over the millennia – the name or association with the sword would actually belong to Eta Orionis. In the 17th century star catalogue of a Al Achsasi al Moualkket it was called Rekbah al Jauzah al Yemeniat which means the right knee of the giant.
Betelgeuse - Alpha Orionis - 3°45’17” sid. Gemini - South 16°1’20"
Betelgeuse is a red, single isolated supergiant star, often called a “runaway star”. Over the last years, Betelgeuse was often talked about because of the great “show” of flickering light and dimming down that we could easily observe by the naked eye – it was part of a cycle of variability observed in intervals since quite some time…
With Betelgeuse there’s great uncertainty of distance, mass, radius, luminosity and age. The current data show a distance of 408 to 548 light years, a mass between 14 to 19 times solar, a radius of 640 to 764 times the Sun, a luminosity of 65’000 to 88’000 times solar which is though only about 13% of its actual luminosity (near infrared) and an age of ca. 8 to 14 million years.
As Betelgeuse is a red supergiant, it means it has evolved away from the main-sequence state of hydrogen burning. Very massive and hot stars, do go through their evolutionary states much faster than other stars. Some phases can last for only a few thousand years…. It’s interesting, that there are recorded observations that state Betelgeuse to be yellow, which would have corresponded to the evolutionary state before the red supergiant state.
The name Betelgeuse is an alteration of several forms of names translated from Arabic names into Latin. There are several origins like Ibt al-Jauzah, Yad al-Jauzah which means the armpit or hand of “the central one” but also “al-Jabbar” terms were used, which means “the Giant”… Arabian legend got al-Jauzah as a feminine name, yet, it seems all a bit lost in translation and times…
Persian and Coptic names refer also to an arm, whereas in Sanskrit the constellation was seen as an antelope or stag. In Chinese astronomy Betelgeuse was seen as the “fourth star” of the constellation “Three Stars” (probably referring to our Orion’s belt)…
This page isn't done yet - stay tuned for a LOT more!!!
modern constellation map created created from the original star map by Nick A. Fiorenza.
Urania's Mirror - Johannes Hevelius
Mythology / stories: Wikipedia, Theoi. com, Richard Hinckley Allen and more...
References: Nick Anthony Fiorenza - lunar planner.com
Ian Ridpath's Star Tales and constellation-guide.com
Pdf-link to chapter 6 of "the constellations of ancient Egypt" by: