Winter Astronomy
Astronomy Resource developed for schools of the Renfrew
County Catholic District School Board.
created by Wayne Campbell
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Orion positioned over Cathedral Catholic Church in Pembroke in mid-winter.
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As with all constellations, Orion's position in the sky changes throughout the
year.
Orion is not visible in the summer, it is hidden behind the sun.
| Look south on a winter evening and you
will see the three stars that make up Orion's belt. Orion,
The Hunter, is a winter constellation. The extremities of
the constellation are marked by two dramatic stars, the red giant star
Betelgeuse and the blue giant Rigel. These stars are incredible
distances away. Betelgeuse is 427 light years away and Rigel
shines from an incredible 680 light years away.
A light year is a distance, the distance light travels in one year. Light travels 300,000 km per second! A light year is a long distance. 1 light year = 94 610 000 000 000 kilometers! Another interesting thing about objects at great distances is that they allow us to look back in time. If you go out and look at Rigel tonight, the light that enters your eye has been traveling through space for 680 years. That light left Rigel in the year 1325 - 167 years before Columbus arrived in America. You are seeing Rigel as it was 680 years ago. You are looking back in time! Link to more images of Orion as seen from our communities. A short video presentation: Orion a Winter Constellation (In Windows Media Player format, 320 x 240) Orion a Winter Constellation (In Google Video format.)
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M42 |
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Look closely at the three small stars hanging below Orion's belt and you will notice a fuzzy glow around the center star. This is the famous Orion Nebula - M42. A pair of binoculars or a small telescope shows that this area is like a glowing cloud - a nebula. M42 is 1500 light years away. Astronomers call M42 a stellar nursery, a place where new stars are being born. |
