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Orion - Final for stage one - Rigel Mystery Cache

Hidden : 10/3/2014
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size:   regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

This is a puzzle cache and GZ is NOT at the given coordinates!!


This cache is part of a 2 stage series of caches that make up a star constellation called Orion. The first part consists of 10 caches of various types, as does the second part. (20 caches all up) There are two “final” caches, one for each series, which will require you to find a number of other caches in the series to complete the whole constellation. The original “belt” caches have been modified to be included in the series and will need to be (re-) visisted to get the required coordinates (or the owners will need to be contacted to request the missing links for those that have done them already). Most caches will be quite easy to find, no tricky hides – just something to have some fun out there :-)

 

This cache

 

This cache is the final cache for the first stage of the series Orion - it serves as the left foot of Orion and completes the main body of the hunter and to find it, you will need to collect the missing coordinates from the logbooks of the following caches:

Betelgeuze,  Meissa,  Bellatrix, 

Alnitak (aka Viva la Vino),  Alnilam (aka Euclid and Pythagoras),  Mintaka (aka Strawberry Jam)

Saiph,  η,  M42

The Cache is at      E 34°AB.C(D-4)(E-1)       S 117°FG.(H+1)(I-8)( J+6)
Congratulations if you have made it this far! The cache is an easy find once you have the right coordinates smiley

We suggest you park approx 150m in a NEasterly direction of GZ (or a little further down the road) for access to a track that leads straight to the cache. Unless you are here around 8.30 - 9am or 3 to 3.30pm, you should have the place to yourself. Parking at the nearby main road appears to attract muggle attention, which has lead to the cache going missing - which no one appreciates...

 Enjoy!

Rigel, which is also known as Beta Orionis, is a B-type blue supergiant that is the sixth brightest star in the night sky. Similar to Betelgeuse, Rigel is fusing heavy elements in its core and will pass its supergiant stage soon (on an astronomical timescale), either collapsing in the case of a supernova or shedding its outer layers and turning into a white dwarf.
Culminating at midnight on 12 December, and at 9 pm on 24 January, Rigel is most visible on summer evenings in the southern hemisphere. It is the first bright star of Orion visible as the constellation rises. In stellar navigation, Rigel is one of the most important navigation stars, since it is bright, easily located and equatorial, which means it is visible all around the world's oceans.

 

Background information on Orion

 

The star constellation we are putting on the Albany map is called Orion and has its first mention (that we know of) in the Old Testament of the Bible. It appears in many myths around the world and as with many other stars and constellations, many a sea farer would have known and used these stars for navigational purposes before GPSs were invented. In the southern hemisphere Orion is most visible in the evening from November to March in the north / north-western sky. Whilst when in the northern hemisphere the hunter stands firmly on his feet, here in the south he is seen to do a "head stand", so if you are looking for him in the night sky, be aware of his acrobatics ;-)

The constellation consists of 7 major stars (8 named stars) and numerous minor stars and nebulae. For the purpose of this series I have used 20 stars / nebulae out of the constellation. For more info on the various stars, navigation, history and mythology see the web links below.

 

Orion's seven brightest stars form a distinctive hourglass-shaped asterism, or pattern, in the night sky. Four stars—Rigel, Betelgeuse, Bellatrix and Saiph—form a large roughly rectangular shape, in the centre of which lie the three stars of Orion's BeltAlnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka. Descending from the 'belt' is a smaller line of three stars (the middle of which is in fact not a star but the Orion Nebula), known as the hunter's 'sword'.

Many of the stars are luminous hot blue supergiants, with the stars of the belt and sword forming the Orion OB1 Association. Standing out by its red hue, Betelgeuse may nevertheless be a runaway member of the same group.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_%28constellation%29

 

Further Links: http://stardate.org/nightsky/constellations/orion
http://www.space.com/16659-constellation-orion.html
http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/constellations/Orion.html
for the kids: http://skyserver.sdss.org/dr1/en/proj/kids/constellation/orionstars.asp
http://www.abc.net.au/science/starhunt/tour/outdoor/

 

History of the cache series

 

Pictionary, Astronomy and Geocaching – how it all worked together.

Well, you may wonder, how do you get from Astronomy and Geocaching to Pictionary? It went like this: We had put out three caches in aid of TangowithCupcake's ABCD Challenge and when they appeared on the Geocaching map as pretty little stars (our caches) my Pictionary instinct kicked in and I knew: this was Orions belt! It took a couple of years and some work to put it all together, but here it is; hope you enjoy!

Having a (sea farer) dad who taught me about stars from an early age, I am dedicating this series to him – Thanks Dad for all you taught us :-)

Additional Hints (No hints available.)