Orion's Belt

On these clear winter nights when I take the dogs out to put them to bed in the shed, I have been enjoying the constellation Orion.  It is one of the most easily recognizable constellations, second only to the Big Dipper.  Teaching this constellation to my students was always one of my favorite lessons during the school year and I loved having excited kids come back to class to tell me that they found Orion. Of course, part of the fun is knowing the myth that explains the origin of the constellation. Here is the version that I like best.....

Apollo and Artemis were brother and sister as well as children of Zeus.  Apollo was the god of prophesy and healing.  Artemis was the goddess of the hunt and childbirth.  In addition to their many responsibilities, Zeus added the marking of day and night.  Each morning Apollo put the sun in a golden chariot and drove it slowly across the sky.  In the evening his sister, Artemis, took over by putting the moon in the chariot for her drive across the night sky. 

One night, as she was driving across the sky, Artemis caught sight of a handsome young mortal man out hunting in the moonlight. Loving the hunt as she did, she spend the night watching him wield his club, shoot his arrows, and bring home his prey.  As time went by she became obsessed with watching this hunter.  On the night of the new moon she parked the chariot near one of his favorite hunting grounds and waited hoping to meet him.  

The hunter was taken by surprise when beautiful Artemis stepped into the clearing and introduced herself.  He told her that his nane was Orion.  They spent the next hours discussing hunting, prey, and weapons.  As the night drew to a end and Artemis prepared to leave, they made arrangements to meet again the following night at the banks of a large lake, this time to hunt together. 

Soon their nightly meetings at the lake had become a habit and Artemis and Orion found themselves deeply in love. But the humans on Earth began to complain to Zeus that they could no longer travel or hunt at night because there was no moon to light their way.  Zeus called in his son Apollo and told him that his sister was shirking her responsibilities and that Apollo needed to investigate and solve the problem. Anxious to please his father and "tattle" on his sister, Apollo eagerly agreed.

At the end of the following day, after turning the chariot over to Artemis, Apollo hung around to follow her and find out what she was doing all night. He followed her to the lake to meet Orion and realized what they were up to.  Now as in any sibling relationship Apollo knew that if he just confronted his sister and told her to stop this foolishness, they would end up in a big fight. He wanted to take care of the problem quickly and permanently, so instead he began to hatch a plan.

The next night Apollo was waiting at the lake when Orion arrived.  The mortal was awestruck at the sight of this mighty god.  Apollo struck up a seemingly innocent conversation full of compliments for the strength and prowess of Orion.  Orion was innocently  lured by the complements into accepting a challenge from Apollo to prove that he was strong enough to swim to the opposite shore of the lake and back.  Orion dove into the water and began the task.

Immediately after Orion's departure, Artemis arrived on the scene only to be stunned that her brother, Apollo, was there.  Thankful that Orion hadn't shown up yet, she set about trying to get rid of her brother as quickly as possible.

"What are you doing here?" Artemis asked her brother.

"The question is what are YOU doing here.  Why aren't you in the chariot carrying the moon across the sky?" Apollo replied.

"Tonight is the new moon. I don't carry the moon tonight so I thought I might get in a little hunting."

"You and your hunting!  I am a better shot with a bow and arrow than you are!"

"That's ridiculous!! I simply never miss no matter what the target."

"Really....even on a dark night like tonight?"

"Any night!!  Choose a target now and I'll prove it!"

"OK...out on the lake I can hear something swimming even though it is too dark to see it.  Can you hit it with an arrow?"

In response Artemis pulled an arrow from her quiver. Swiftly and surely the arrow shot straight for the sound of the swimming Orion. 

"You ARE good!!" laughed Apollo, "but I've got to run.  See you later."

Puzzled by her brother's actions, Artemis sat down on the bank of the lake to wait for Orion.  Time passed and she was about to leave when she noticed something washing up on the bank. Something large with what seemed to be an arrow.......one of her arrows........

She ran into the water and pulled Orion's body to shore where he pledged his undying love for her with his last breath.

Grief stricken and knowing that she could not go on without him, Artemis lifted Orion's body and threw it into the sky where it would be with her always as she drove the moon across the sky each night.


What a story!! The kids loved it and I do to!  If you want to find Orion in the night sky, go outside about 8:00 tonight.  Turn to the southeast.  Look for Orion's belt, three stars neatly lined up in a row.  Here are some pictures that will help.

Orion...myth version

dot-to-dot version

Actual night sky version

Now for some science!  Betelgeuse, the reddish star in Orion's upper left-hand shoulder, is red because it is a dying star.  A star's color is a clue to it's age.  In contrast, Rigel, the bluish star at the lower right-hand corner of Orion's tunic, is a relatively new star.

And now for some trivia. Bellatrix, the third most well known star in the Orion constellation, was used by J.K. Rowling in the Harry Potter series for the character Bellatrix Lestrange. 

                                                                                             Happy star gazing,
                                                                                                                      Shelli

Be glad of life

because it gives you the chance

 to love, to work, to play, and to look up at the stars.

 ~Henry Van Dyke