Star Factoid: Alnitak was the setting of Star Trek's
episode, "The City on the Edge of Forever".
Cultural Note: Finnish mythology calls Orion the "Scythe
of Väinämöinen," due to the constellation's appearance in their sky
at harvest time. Of course, Orion is in good company because
chiggers are sometimes called harvest mites, too.
The Constellation Orion is one of the most
distinguishable collection of stars in the earth's night sky. The
constellation is on the celestial equator, so it is seen from the
southern hemisphere, too. There it is oriented differently, leading
southern night denizens to call the the stars (among other things)
the pot or sauce pan -- an appropriate finish for a hunter.
Orion is classically regarded to be a hunter. Though he cameos
in various Greek stories such as Homer's epics, his story is lost
in the fog of mythology. Artists have rendered the constellation as
hunting lions, snakes, dragons, and even rabbits; however nothing
is said or drawn indicating he ever hunted chiggers -- even though,
mythology suggests that he died from the sting of another
Arachnida, the scorpion.
Stars/Caches in this Puzzle Series:
| Diff/Bayer |
Name:meaning |
Notes |
| 5.0/beta |
Rigel: left front foot |
usually brightest star in the constellation, and 6th brightest
star in night sky |
| 4.5/alpha |
Betelgeuse: central one? |
varible star, occasionally outshining Rigel, 9th brightest star
in night sky |
| 4.0/gamma |
Bellatrix: female warrior |
is likely to be the closest star of constellation |
| 3.5/epsilon |
Alnilam: string of pearls |
blue supergaint, 30th brightest star in night sky |
| 3.0/zeta |
Alnitak: the girdle |
a triple star system dominated by a blue super gaint |
| 2.5/kappa |
Saiph: sword or gaint |
blue super gaint |
| 2.0/delta |
Mintaka: area or region |
a multiple star, the brightest being class B & O |
| 1.5/iota |
Hatsya: bright one of the sword |
a 4 star system at the tip of Orion's sword |
| 1.0/eta |
Ensis: sword |
two orbiting blue stars |