The stars tell heroic stories of ancient gods

To find the Orion constellation, look for three bright stars in a row in the southwestern sky.

These stars make Orion’s belt. Other stars in the constellation include Betelgeuse, a faraway red supergiant star, and Rigel, a blue supergiant.

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Together, the stars in this constellation create an image of Orion, a figure from Greek mythology.

How did Orion come to live in the sky?

In Greek mythology, Orion was a handsome giant who was a legendary hunter. His father was Poseidon, the god of the sea. Because of this, Orion could walk on water.

In one version of the myth, Orion once bragged that he would hunt and kill every animal on earth while hunting with Artemis, the goddess of the hunt.

Gaia, the Greek goddess of the earth and protector of all its creatures, didn’t like that very much.

She sent a giant scorpion to stop Orion. He tried to fight back, shooting arrows at the scorpion, but finally retreated and ran away. The scorpion caught him, stinging and killing him.

To thank the scorpion, Gaia put him in the sky as the constellation Scorpius. Even today, you can see the constellation Scorpius chase Orion across the sky.

As the earth rotates, the stars seem to move across the sky. This makes it look like the Scorpius constellation — which you can find by looking south and searching for stars in the shape of a fish hook — is following Orion across the horizon.

Comments: molly.duffy@thegazette.com