Follow him on Twitter @sciencef1rst. The binary star is sometimes referred to as Alnitak A. Some historians believe that this is not coincidental because the structure had an astronomical purpose. Leo is Latin for "Lion" and is represented by a lion in many myths, including the Greek myth of the Nemean Lion that was killed by the hero Heracles. There is much more to this than I can explain within the scope of this article and it is only intended to be a preview of the next book in the Giza Template series. The constellation Orion is depicted as the human figure of a hunter chasing a hare (Lepus) with his two dogs (Canis Major and Canis Minor) or, alternatively, facing the charge of the Bull (Taurus). While there are 12 astrological constellations of the zodiac, there are 13 astronomical zodiac constellations: Capricornus, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpius, Sagittarius, and Ophiuchus. The location of the Sphinx encodes the number 259.2 as shown above relating it to precession with a 23.5 angle, Earths axial tilt, relating to the Wall of the Crow. All three stars are exceptionally fast spinners, with projected rotational velocities of 130 km/s (Mintaka), 150 km/s (Delta Ori Aa2), and 220 km/s (Delta Ori Ab). The brightest star of this trio is Denebola, which means "tail of the lion.". You can see Betelgeuse's reddish color without a telescope. Open cluster KMHK 1231 is a group of stars loosely bound by gravity, as seen in the upper right of this Hubble Space Telescope image. The movements of the star Sirius and the Pleiades star cluster are at odds with the current theory of precession in that they do not demonstrate the so-called wobble motion of the Earths axis. On the morning of January 4, the crescent . Social Media Lead: The origin of its formal name is from an-niq which means "the girdle" or the belt of Orion the Hunter. The stars are evenly spaced and form a more or less straight line, which makes them easy to identify. The constellation is visible at latitudes between +90nd -6 according to the skywatching website "Constellation Guide". Orions Belt can be used to identify the brightest stars of Taurus and Canis Major. Appearing as three stars in a row, Orions Belt stars lie more than 1,000 light-years away and are among the brightest stars in the sky. Because of their alignment to Earth's orbit, the constellations in the Zodiac belt are fully visible for about 9 months and then move to the area behind the Sun where they remain invisible to us from Earth for 3 months or so. It is formed by three points of light: the young star 42 Orionis and the Running Man Nebula (NGC 1977), the bright Orion Nebula (Messier 42) with the Trapezium Cluster, and the multiple star system Iota Orionis, which is part of the open cluster NGC 1980. There are a number of luminous galaxies within Leo, including the Leo triplet of M66, M65 and NGC 3628. By April, it moves to the southwest and begins to set earlier. The Orion belt also had symbolic meanings that we got to know over the millennia. The body lengths of 9 and 11 are encoding two prominent divisions of the circle demonstrated in The Giza Template: Earth Measure. The three zodiacal constellations already mentioned lie on an elliptic line 18 degrees wide known as the Zodiac and following this line will lead you onto the other zodiac constellations. That is in the little dipper which is neighbor to the big dipper so you just need to look in the vicinity. Orion is a well-known constellation located on the celestial equator. Leo is easy to find when you learn this one simple trick (did that sound like a fake internet guru line?). In addition, the other stars of Cygnus fell into key places at Giza unlike Orion. The year is divided into months, days, hours, minutes and seconds. The third Messier object in this region of the sky is the reflection nebula Messier 78. Like the Egyptian pyramids, they may have been built to mirror the shape of Orions Belt. Triplet of bright galaxies in the constellation of Leo (The Lion), together with a multitude of fainter objects: distant background galaxies and much closer Milky Way stars. The upper image is what we see from Earth and the lower from a different location in space. The constellations that appear within 9 above and below the ecliptic are called Constellations of the Zodiac. . Matariki is known as the Mori New Year, which is marked by the rising of the Pleiades between late May and early July. The Sun appears directly above it during the equinoxes. The scattered stars of the globular cluster NGC 6355 are strewn across this Hubble image. We may never detect it, though, because no light can escape black holes, making them invisible. Orion dominates the evening sky during the northern hemisphere winter. Two of the three stars are supergiants. The two stars periodically eclipse each other as they orbit, causing the systems brightness to decrease. Also within the Leo constellation is a giant primordial cloud of gas that is large enough to form a galaxy. Orion is one of the most recognizable constellations in the sky. And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com. Heres the direct link to Regulus page at in-the-sky.org which will give you all the information you need. Alnilams brightness has been observed to vary from magnitude 1.64 to 1.74. The Mori people of New Zealand call Orions Belt Tautoru, meaning a string of three. The asterism represents the stern in the constellation known as Te Waka o Rangi (the canoe of Rangi). The seven brightest stars in Orion outline the Hunters hourglass-shaped figure. Even though it is a young star, Alnilam is already approaching the end of its life. The angle of the Sphinx Causeway is created using the 7/13ths division of the circle. The pyramids are believed to be 4,500 years old. The rest of the sickle of Leo, visible to the southeast after sunset, is made up of the fainter stars Leo (Adhafera), Leo (Ras Elased Borealis), and Leo (Ras Elased Australis). The plates were taken using the Samuel Oschin Telescope, a wide-field survey instrument at Palomar Observatory, between 1987 and 1991. Don't miss Venus and Jupiter shine super close in the night sky. Alnitak is a triple star system that is located in the easternmost part of Orion's Belt. This star is located on the ecliptic, the path of the Sun and planets in our sky. The exact dates depend on the tribe and geography. Sah was mentioned in the Pyramid Texts from the 24th and 23rd centuries BCE as one of the gods whose form pharaohs take after passing. Orion is home to 2 meteor showers A snapshot of the Tarantula Nebula is featured in this image from Hubble. This is. An option for iOS users is Sky Safari which actually has more bells and whistles than SkyMap, but it takes a lot of space and can sometimes feel sluggish. These are A- and B-type supergiant stars that experience non-radial pulsations. The flooding of the Nile was a good omen as, according to National Geographic, the event was for thousands of years a source of irrigation transforming arid and dry land into fertile regions. Orion may not look quite so familiar in this 3D view though. Even though Alnilam is the most distant of the three stars, it appears the brightest because it is the most massive and therefore the most intrinsically luminous of the Belt stars. Let them guide you to some of the most incredible and mysterious objects of the cosmos young stars, brilliant nebulae, new worlds, star systems, and even galaxies. (Image credit: manpuku7 via Getty Images). These three stars represent Orion's belt. Orions Belt as it appears from the northern hemisphere in January and April, image: Stellarium. It is a hot blue bright giant of the spectral type O9.5II. It has an estimated age of 5.7 million years. Constellations near Orions Belt, image: Stellarium. It is also $2.99 while SkyMap is free. In geometry one point can be seen as a center point or axis. It is the primary star in a triple star system located approximately 1,260 light-years away. The Wall of the Crow points to 23.5 axial tilt of the Earth relating it to the spiral. Sah and Sopdet were later syncretized with Osiris and his wife Isis. Unfortunately, this method has a high barrier of entry as you need a capable telescope with an expensive mount, but if you do have access to those things, it is probably the easiest (and definitely the most impressive) way. These three stars represent Orion's belt. Perhaps an easier, but way less fun way to locate a constellation than buying an expensive telescope mount is simply using a device you already have: your phone. The annual cycle of the zodiac was used by ancient cultures to determine the time of year. HD 20745 is a orange to red giant star that can be located in the constellation of Eridanus. In fact, that is exactly what I have discovered encoded in The Giza Template. First, you should spot Orion's Belt, which is made of three bright stars in a straight line. It lies only 8.60 light-years away. We can see that the Lion asterism is created geometrically as all the constellations are, Regulus is intersecting the circle and the spiral, the Lions front and rear mark the spiral, its head aligned to the centerline or axis. Whatever your reason is to to want to locate it here is how you can easily find the Leo constellation in the night sky. It has an apparent magnitude of 9.0. Hercules defeated the lion when Athena instructed him to use the lion's own claw as a weapon against it. The Leo Ring, a cloud of hydrogen and helium gas, orbits of two dwarf galaxies. A portion of the open cluster NGC 6530 appears as a roiling wall of smoke studded with stars in this Hubble image. With an effective temperature of 27,500 K, it is 537,000 times more luminous than the Sun. For example, the ancient Greeks thought that an arrangement of stars in the sky looked like a giant hunter with a sword attached to his belt, so they named it after a famous hunter in their mythology, Orion. Orion is bordered by Taurus to the northwest, Eridanus to the southwest, Lepus to the south, Monoceros to the east, and Gemini to the northeast. This makes it recognized worldwide. You can form his body by finding the famous three stars that make up his belt. The blue line intersecting the Sun and Galactic center is 51.27 off vertical marking 5127 years. Orion is one of the oldest constellations in the sky. Alnilam is losing mass about 20 million times more rapidly than the Sun. It is slightly fainter than its Orions Belt neighbour Alnilam, but it outshines Mintaka. Pahl takes a journey to find all of Orion, not just . Researchers found evidence that two exoplanets orbiting a red dwarf star are "water worlds.". The stellar nursery appears as the middle of the three points of light that form the Sword. It has a radius of 16.5 solar radii and a luminosity 190,000 times that of the Sun. The whole image is filled with glowing gas clouds illuminated by hot blue young stars. A close-up of the Sphinx and related temples show how 54 horizontal and 32 vertical divisions determine the positioning as well as the length and width of the Lion body. This is not by chance, but by intentional design of the architects, astronomers and scientists who created the Giza repository. Image credit: Davide De Martin (http://www.skyfactory.org); Credit: Digitized Sky Survey, ESA/ESO/NASA FITS Liberator. It is one of the most easily noticed and recognizable constellations in the night sky. Other operators like Amazon's Project Kuiper (planning to begin launches of prototypes in early 2023 and eventually have a constellation of 3,236 satellites) and OneWeb (with 600 satellites set . In order to find the coordinates for a star, you can use an online catalogue that will calculate everything for you depending on your location. Although Rigel is farther from Earth than Betelgeuse (Rigel is about 860 light-years away), it is intrinsically brighter than its companion, making it the brightest star in Orion and one of the brightest stars in the night sky. The Three Stars asterism originally consisted of Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka, and other bright Orion stars Rigel, Betelgeuse, Bellatrix, and Saiph were added later. In the modern age, Leo is the home in the sky of a wealth of objects of great scientific interest meaning skywatchers and astronomers today are as fascinated with the lion as were antiquity's astrologers and myth-weavers. The best time to view the Leo constellation is in April. It is part of a group of reflection nebulae that also includes NGC 2071, NGC 2064, and NGC 2067. Sahs consort, Sopdet (Sothis), was the goddess of the star Sirius. It was originally a Google Labs apps so you know it os good. It consists of three bright stars: Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka (or Delta Orionis, actually a complex star system). In my next book in the Giza Template series, Heavens Measure, I will present further clear unambiguous evidence that whomever was responsible for designing the Giza repository was doing so with knowledge far in advance of what even the most open minded academic has even considered. If you are new around here and you want to get started with the hobby, check out our astronomy for beginners guide or the recommended gear page. Antares, the brightest star in Scorpius, never rises until Orions Belt has set. NEWMAGICFOR THE NEWAGE Daring to challenge old stereotypes and misconceptions surrounding magical practice, New Millenni. The constellations Canis Major and Canis Minor represented the hunters dogs and the constellation Scorpius was associated with the scorpion that stung Orion. Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! Maybe while youre stargazing you spot some of your favorite constellations. Two brighter stars to the north mark his shoulders, and two more to the south represent his feet. This is why Leos are loyal friends. Below the three bright stars of Orions belt lies his sword, where you can find the famous Orion Nebula. Regulus, Al Jabbah, and Algieba, together with the fainter stars Leo (Adhafera), Leo (Ras Elased Borealis), and Leo (Ras Elased Australis), constitute the sickle. In May, it is low above the western horizon around 8 pm and sets after sunset. Alnitak forms a close binary star system with a blue subgiant with the stellar classification B1IV. Once you have found Regulus, the rest of the lion should be titled about 90 like it is shown in the illustration above. Then look eastward about 25 degrees to find Denebola, which represents the lion's tail. Space is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. It may evolve into a red supergiant more luminous than Betelgeuse over the next million years and will ultimately go out as a supernova. The story behind the name: The pattern in the constellation Orion was recognized as a human figure by many ancient cultures. Using these six divisions of time, a calendar date was assigned using a binary date to the alignment of the Galactic Center with the Sun and Earth. Documented within the first book are precise dimensions and positions of 11 pyramids, each encoding specific information. The Orion Correlation Theory grew from researchers' interpretations of two mysterious, narrow shafts discovered in the Great Pyramid of Giza.