Last week in this space, on the topic of the world\u2019s 20 most widely-spoken languages, I mentioned a few words in English that came from Arabic. It has since occurred to me that more examples are hanging over Saipan\u2019s head. That\u2019s because many stars carry Arabic names, including, notably, the three bright stars that comprise the neat line of Orion\u2019s belt. <\/p>\n
I suspect that Orion, named for a hunter from Greek lore, is humanity\u2019s most widely-recognized constellation. Orion is easily recognized via the three stars of the belt; via the bright red star called Betelgeuse that signifies Orion\u2019s right shoulder; and via the bright white star called Rigel that signifies Orion\u2019s left foot. On that note, this whole \u201cleft\u201d and \u201cright\u201d business assumes that Orion is facing us, and of course he is. After all, he\u2019s our pal, and a very good pal at that.<\/p>\n
Although the prime viewing season for Orion is drawing to its annual close right now, it\u2019s still convenient to view Orion from Saipan. At 8pm these days, Orion is high overhead in Saipan\u2019s south-southeastern sky. <\/p>\n
If you take a look at about that time, you\u2019ll notice that Orion is sort of lying down, and his belt is, more or less, running vertically. Going from the lowest of the belt\u2019s stars and proceeding upwards, the stars are named Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka. These Arab names are said to mean, respectively, \u201cgirdle\u201d or \u201cbelt;\u201d \u201cstring of pearls;\u201d and \u201cbelt.\u201d Their distances from Earth are, again respectively, 817 light-years; 1,977 light-years; and 917 light-years.<\/p>\n
They are some of the most distant of the prominent stars.<\/p>\n
Yet, despite the great distances, they\u2019re all very bright. All three, in fact, are monster stars, \u201csupergiant\u201d stars that shine tens of thousands times brighter than the sun does. If you put a hairy eyeball on them you\u2019ll notice they\u2019re all blue, which, in the stellar realm of visible colors, means they\u2019re the hottest burners. <\/p>\n
Alnitak and Mintaka have surface temperatures of about 60,000F, while Alnilam is cooking at 50,000F. <\/p>\n
Blue supergiant stars are extremely rare. However, they\u2019re so bright that they are disproportionately visible among their far more numerous, but far duller, brethren. <\/p>\n
To put this in context, our sun, a very mild, whitish-yellow star, has a surface temperature of about 10,000F. <\/p>\n
With that in mind for scale, we can now put our focus back on Orion and contemplate Betelgeuse, which, as a red star, is in the coolest visual category of stars, burning at about 6000F. And, yes, Betelgeuse is also an Arabic name, said to mean the hand of the giant (the giant being Orion) or the armpit of the giant. Betelgeuse is also a monster star, a supergiant that\u2019s roughly 900 time to 1,000 times the diameter of our sun.<\/p>\n
Since Orion is a prominent feature of the sky, it is, logically enough, used as a guidepost to other celestial sights. For example, if you extend the line of Orion\u2019s belt down toward the horizon (again, using our 8pm benchmark for Saipan) you\u2019ll come to Sirius, the brightest star in the entire night sky. Sirius itself isn\u2019t all that remarkable. It\u2019s bright because it\u2019s very close at 8.6 light-years. <\/p>\n
Saipan actually gets a bonus here, which our friends to the north in Beijing, Tokyo, and Seoul have probably never seen from home: Canopus, the second-brightest star in the night sky, which is roughly between Sirius and due south. Canopus is 309 light-years distant. <\/p>\n
In summary, then, Saipan offers an array of noteworthy stars in Orion\u2019s sector of the sky: Betelgeuse, the red supergiant; Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka, the blue supergiants of Orion\u2019s belt; Rigel, which is also a blue supergiant; Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky; and Canopus, the second-brightest star in the night sky. <\/p>\n
There\u2019s far more to Orion\u2019s neighborhood, but I\u2019m going to change course so I can address readers who have some engagement in navigation. Saipan, after all, has hosted its share of tropical adventurers. One useful fact about Orion is that Mintaka pretty much sits smack-dab on top of the celestial horizon. Another useful fact is that Orion\u2019s sword, which, of course, hangs down from the belt, hangs toward celestial due south. With these two facts in mind, Orion can really help you get your bearings if you\u2019re in the middle of nowhere. <\/p>\n
Stepping back to the most general of perspectives, the arm of the galaxy on which Earth\u2019s solar system resides is called the Orion Spur. It\u2019s also called the Orion Arm. Either way, Orion is a very big deal and a very big benchmark. <\/p>\n
So enjoy the view!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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