click on the above image to see a larger version.

1, Rigel	Also known as Beta Orionis home too many planets that the federation is well aware of. And Rigel is also the brightest star in the cluster and Orions left Knee
2, Betelgeuse	Orions left shoulder and is the colour red with a diameter larger than the orbit of Mars, although slightly fainter than Rigel.
3, bellatrix	Is Orions right shoulder
4,Alinilam 5,Alinitak 6, Mintaka	These three stars make up the “asterism” or Orions belt, the three bright stars in a row that from these three it is possible to identify Orion.
7, Saiph	Orions right knee

There are other stars in the cluster that can only really be seen from earth with a telescope so we will not look at them in this report as we are focusing on what could be seen at the time. Not what we know now.

 

Orion borders several other star clusters some of them are

Gemini
Taurus
Eridanus
Lepus
Monoceros

Also below the “belt” of Orion is what is known as the “sword of Orion” this is made up of a smaller line of three stars one of which is the Orion Nebula. Visible with the naked eye or a pair of binoculars, and for a better view a small telescope can give a more vivid view of the deeper celestial objects.

That should give you a picture of the Orion Star cluster as we today know it. And in case you want to see it for yourself it is clearly visible most times of the year closer to the horizon and will be so for the next 1.2 to 2 million years so now real rush its not going anywhere just yet.

 

 

 

What however did the ancient Earth Cultures see when they looked up?

 

The name Orion is credited as coming from the ancient Greek civilisation on Earth.

However the name may even predate that and may be a derivative of the Akkadian “uru-anna” meaning light of heaven. And over time the name passed into Mythology and became the name with still use today, as we do on most star clusters.

Other cultures saw various other things. Such as

Sumerians -: they saw a Shepard, sometimes in a chariot with his sheep others   versions with a crook

China-: was one of the 28 lunar mansions sieu (xiu), and Shen literally meaning three named after the three stars in the belt.

The Earth Religious Book the Bible mentions Orion several times including

Job 9:9 “he is the maker of the Bear and Orion”
Job 38:31” can you loosen Orions belt?”
Amos 5:8” he who made the Pleiades and Orion.”

The Jewish faith comment the “Orion emits heat preventing winter from being too cold”

And the ancient Aram Orion was known as Nephila and its descendants known as Nephilim

 

In pre Christian Scandinavia

The belt was known as Frigg’s Distaff

Finland: - it is called “the scythe of Vainamoinen” the term most likely comes from the fact that it can be seen in the northern hemisphere in early autumn the time of harvest.

India: - Vyadh also the Hunter (that theme crops up more than once)

But I believe the best source of information comes from the ancient Egyptians one of Earth most studied cultures, whose culture and architecture still exits today in one form or another.

To the Egyptians Orion was more than a collection of stars in the night sky they actually believed them to be the home of Osiris one the most important Gods to the Egyptians, many myths surround Orion too many to go into here. Suffice it to say that when the Pharaoh ascended to Heaven after going through the trials of the underworld and the halls of judgement he went to join Osiris in what is known as Orion.

There is a school of thought that Orion was so important to the Egyptians that they even created Orion on the ground as the three Pyramids on the Giza Plateau are arranged in line. It was only found when aerial photography saw that from the air they did seem to resemble the belt. This was discounted thought as the Pyramid of Mincara was smaller than the others and off centre by a few degrees. Again this was put to rights when a more detailed look at Orions belt showed that one of the stars was indeed smaller than the others and was also off centre just as the ancient Egyptians had lain down on the ground.

A big search was started to see if there were corresponding Pyramids in the country that would match up with the other stars and indeed there have been others found that roughly match up with the shoulders but as yet none to match the lower half. So there theory is still treated with distant mistrust by the wider community.

Just how could the ancients have known about the off centre star without modern telescopes?

Some people say that “aliens” visited Earth and gave the knowledge to various peoples of the earth. Indeed many cultures seem to have similar myths about aliens coming down to earth in the distant past, who are we to say that did not happen!

It should also be noted that the internal arrangements of the Great Pyramid has shafts that lead to the outside and seem to point to Orions belt(or at the time of construction they did) due to a process called the “procession of the equinoxes” a natural wobble in earths rotation. When this was first put forward and checked it did not match, but when they corrected for the “procession” and worked it back it did indeed point straight to Orions belt.

Conclusion

What conclusion if any can we form from this? Well to ours eyes Orion is nothing more than a collection of star systems that we visit on a regular basis as part of the federation.

However to ancient eyes it was a Hunter, a tool, a friend, a map, a guide, a companion in the dark. And a place of worship, a visible means to see your ancestors and place to aim for in your life and a constant reminder that you were not alone, that you were being looked over and cared for.

The importance to Earth cultures therefore is great and still has impact today as the religion of Ancient Egypt is still being practiced in the religion Kemetic Orthodox.

Many times over the millennia we have looked to the stars and wondered, funny that one of the first we went to was

Orion

Lt (jg) R Temple
USS Sovereign

 

close this window