Anyone who has been star-gazing for any length of time would
have noticed Orion. Orion is a wonderfully distinctive
arrangement of stars that ___1___
the night sky from December to April. In Greek mythology, Orion
was a giant and a great hunter. It is easy to see the figure ___2___
a hunter, complete with lion's skin in his right hand and raised
club in his left in the Orion constellation.
On Orion's shoulder is Betelgeuse, one of ___3___
rare supergiants which is close to 600 million miles across. It
is a superb red color and contrasts with Rigel, the star in
Orion's foot. Rigel is a blue supergiant. Barely one-tenth the ___4___
Betelgeuse, it is still almost 100 times the size of our Sun.
The Great Nebula (M 42), also ___5___
the Orion Nebula, is a wonderful star nursery that is ___6___
to the naked eye in a dark sky. The swirls of nebulosity spread
out from its core of four stars called the Trapezium, which
power the Nebula.
The Latin word for cloud, Nebula is the term used for the
cosmic gas and dust that lie among the stars. Most nebulae are
lit up by light from stars within them. The biggest nebulae do
not shine at all. They can only be seen ___7___
they block the light of more distant stars. |