Beyond Earth
Orion and Sirius
Find Orion and Sirius in the night sky.
Orion is often drawn as a hunter. Three stars in a short straight line in the middle are the hunter's belt. Some people imagine Orion, followed by his dog (the constellation Canis Major), fighting a bull (the constellation Taurus).
Canis Major contains the star Sirius. Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky.
In India, Orion is best seen from December to April, after sunset. To find it:
- look first for the three bright stars of the belt;
- then imagine a straight line through those three stars and follow it along;
- it leads to the very bright star Sirius, close to Orion.
Indian astronomy uses the word nakshatra for a certain star or group of stars:
- Ardra is the star Betelgeuse, in Orion.
- Krittika is the group of stars called the Pleiades, in Taurus.
- Rohini is Aldebaran, another star in Taurus.
Orion, the hunter, is found by his three belt stars, and following the line of the belt leads to Sirius in Canis Major, the brightest star in the night sky.
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