Orion

Orion is easily the most recognized constellation around. The three stars close together form Orion's belt. Directly below the belt is his sword, made up of two stars and M42. Orion also carries a club and a shield, these are difficult, but not impossible, to see from the city. Betelgeuse Betelgeuse (pronounced bet-el-jooze) is the bright red star that makes up Orion's right shoulder. It is a red supergiant that varies in brightness as the star actually shrinks and contracts. If placed in our solar system, Betelgeuse would easily stretch well beyond the Earth's orbit. That's over 93,000,000 miles. Rigel Rigel is a very large, very young star. Rigel shines with a blue-white color because of how hot it's surface is. Rigel is about 900 light years away. M42 (the Orion Nebula) M42 is the most well known of all nebulas. It was formed from the remains of a star much larger than the sun. M42 is a stellar nursery to many young stars. M42 appears as a greenish cloud in the middle of Orion's sword. From the city it is very dim, but it can still be seen. With any telescope, it is amazing to look at.

Object Betelgeuse Rigel M42 Trapezium Type Star Star Nebula Star System Magnitude 0.5 0.1 N/A N/A