free printable constellation star charts

FREE PRINTABLE CONSTELLATION STAR CHARTS PDF
FREE PRINTABLE CONSTELLATION STAR CHARTS FULL

It varies in magnitude between +1.64 and +1.74. Alnilam is a powerful star with a diameter of 25 times that of the Sun. +1.69 is a blue-white B0 supergiant 2,000 light-years distant that marks the middle belt star and fourth brightest star in the constellation. It's one of the nearest vast red supergiants.Īlnilam (epsilon Orionis - ε Ori) - mag. Currently it hovers around magnitude +0.42.īetelgeuse is 640 light-years away and has a diameter of about 1,200 times that of the Sun. It's an irregular red supergiant that generally fluctuates between magnitudes +0.3 and +0.8, though on rare occasions it's been known to peak at magnitude 0.0 and dim down to magnitude +1.2. They are 1.9 and 2.5 times the mass of the Sun.īetelgeuse (alpha Orionis - α Ori) - marks the upper left-hand corner of the ancient hunter and one of the most well-known stars in the sky. Rigel B itself is a spectroscopic binary consisting of two blue-white B9V main sequence stars with an orbital period of 9.8 days. The separation is 9.5 arc seconds and a magnification of between 150x and 200x should suffice. Even so the pair can be split with 80mm (3.1-inch) scopes on nights of good seeing. +6.8), it's not particularly faint but is overpowered by the brilliance of its neighbour. The star has a companion that was discovered by German astronomer F.G.W. During the daytime, Rigel would also be easily seen.

FREE PRINTABLE CONSTELLATION STAR CHARTS FULL

It also easily outstrips most of its night sky rivals.Īt a distance of 860 light-years, Rigel is relatively close, but if it were as near as Sirius it would be spectacular, lighting up the night sky as a brilliant beacon of light almost as bright as the full Moon. 7.9 and is therefore 120,000 times more powerful than the Sun. In terms of sheer power Rigel is immense. It has been assigned the second Greek letter even though it's almost always brighter than alpha Orionis, red supergiant Betelgeuse. +0.13 is a blue-white B8 supergiant that's the brightest star in Orion and seventh brightest in the night sky.

FREE PRINTABLE CONSTELLATION STAR CHARTS PDF

Orion Star Chart - pdf format (credit:- freestarcharts) Orion is best seen during the months of December, January and February. More recently, the film company Orion Pictures used the constellation's main shape as its logo. For the Aztecs, Orion rising in the east signaled the time to perform the 'New Fire' ceremony, a ritual designed to postpone the end of the World. They also aligned part of the Great Pyramid of Giza with Alnitak, one of the stars of the belt. The Egyptians associated Orion with Osiris, the god of death, afterlife, resurrection, regeneration and rebirth. In old Hungarian tradition, Orion was a magic Archer or Reaper and in China the constellation was one of the 28 lunar mansions that reflect the movement of the Moon. In medieval Muslim astronomy, Orion was known as al-jabbar, the giant. When Scorpius rises in the east, Orion is setting in the west. The resulting outcome is that the hunter and the scorpion are placed on opposite sides of the sky. Various versions exist, but generally Orion brought the wrath of goddess Artemis who sent the scorpion to kill him. Many myths surround the character particularly involving his death.

In Greek mythology, Orion was a handsome strong hunter, born to Euryale the daughter of King Minos of Crete and Poseidon, the god of the sea. The earliest linking is an ivory carving found in a cave in the Ach valley in Germany, which is estimated to be at least 32,000 years old. The distinctive pattern of Orion has been used historically and in the modern World extensively. Its most famous inhabitant, the Orion Nebula, is one of the most spectacular deep sky objects in the sky. Named after a great hunter in Greek mythology, it contains two first magnitude stars, many other bright stars, a famous belt, spectacular nebulae, some impressive multiple stars and fine open clusters.

Straddling the celestial equator it can be seen from all locations on Earth. Orion is a prominent constellation that's one of the brightest and most familiar sights in the night sky.

Free printable constellation star charts