Orion

"Down fell the red skin of the lion

Into the river at his feet.

His mighty club no longer beat

The forehead of the bull; but he

Reeled as of yore beside the sea,

When blinded by Oenopion

He sought the blacksmith at his forge,

And climbing up the narrow gorge,

Fixed his blank eyes upon the sun."

~The "Occultation of Orion" by Mr. Longfellow~

This poem was written about the Greek myth of Orion. The story says that Orion, the son of Neptune, was a handsome giant and a mighty hunter. His father gave him the power of wading through the depths of the sea, or, as others would say, walking on its surface. Orion loved Merope, the daughter of Oenopion, king of Chios, and sought her in marriage. He cleared the island of wild beasts, and brought the spoils of the chase as presents to his beloved; but as Oenopion constantly deferred his consent, Orion attempted to gain possession of the maiden by violence. Her father, incensed at this conduct, having made Orion drunk, deprived him of his sight and cast him out on the seashore. The blinded hero followed the sound, of a Cyclops' hammer till he reached Lemnos, and came to the forge of Vulcan(Hephaestus), who, taking pity on him, gave him Kedalion, one of his men to be his guide to the abode of the sun. Placing Kedalion on his shoulders, Orion proceeded to the east, and there meeting the sun-god(Helios) was restored to sight by his beam.

After this he dwelt as a hunter with Diana(Artemis), with whom he was a favorite, and it was even said she was about to marry him. Her brother was highly displeased and often chid with her, but for no purpose. One day, observing Orion wading through the sea with his head just above the water, Apollo pointed it out to his sister and maintained that she could not hit that black thing on the sea. The archer-goddess discharged a shaft with fatal aim. The waves rolled the dead body of Orion to the land, and bewailing her fatal error with many tears, Diana placed him among the stars, where he appears as a giant, with a girdle, sword, lion's skin, and club. Sirius, his dog, follows him, and the Pleiads fly before him.

Orion, the brightest constellation in the sky, is easy to find if you look for the three bright stars that make up Orion's belt. Once you have found this distinctive pattern, two other very bright stars will help you define the rest of the constellation. The first star, Betelgeuse, is located at Orion's right shoulder. The second, Rigel, is at his lower left. Orion is the great hunter, aiming his arrow and holding his club over his head. His sword hangs from his belt. In the area of this sword are found a number of very exciting star formation regions, including the Great Nebula of Orion. The nebula is visible with the unaided eye, as a smudge about halfway down his sword.

The Great Nebula of Orion(star M42) is one of the most photographed objects in the sky. This area is a collection of gas and dust where stars are being born. The central bright star that is illuminating the gaseous cloud is actually four stars known as the Trapezium. The nebula itself is one of the nearest star formations at only about 1,500 light years away. It has formed stars recently, only 300,000 years ago.

In Orion many of the stars have different colors, colors

tell us about a star's temperature, composition, age, size, and

distance from us. Red stars are generally older, cooler stars

that have used up much of their hydrogen fuel. Blue stars are

generally younger and hotter. Most of these stars are blue, with

the exception of the very red star, Betelgeuse. Betelgeuse is a

red supergiant, Rigel is a blue supergiant. The red streak in the

sword area is the Orion Nebula.

Orion is located in the celestial equator and Orion's

outstretched upper arm is located in the Milky Way. Orion

is followed by two hunting dogs at his right. One of these, Canis Major, contains the brightest star in the sky. This star, Sirius, is located just where the dog's neck meets his body. Sirius should help you find Orion, and Orion is also shooting at Taurus the Bull.

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