Orion

Orion is a Equatorial constellation otherwise known as the Hunter. It is one of the 48 Greek constellations originally described by the 2nd century astronomer Claudius Ptolemy (Wikipedia). Orion remains one of the 88 modern constellations defined by the International Astronomical Union (Wikipedia).

Orion (abbrev. = Ori; genitive = Orionis) covers 594 square degrees or 1.44% of the celestial sphere making it the 26th largest constellation. It contains 204 stars brighter than apparent magnitude 6.5, the brightest star being Rigel (Alpha Orionis). See Orion for a photo this constellation from Bifrost Observatory.

For more information see the entries for Orion at Wikipedia and U. Wisconsin. For a chart of Orion, see Ori (IAU).






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