A Sparkling Hunter in the Winter Sky - Orion
In the winter sky, Orion is roughly rectangular in shape, with a belt of distinctive stars near the center, making it easy to identify.
The seven stars that make up Orion are Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Betelgeuse, Bellatrix, Saiph and Rigel.
In terms of brightness, the brightest alpha star in Orion is Betelgeuse on the shoulder, while Rigel at the ankle is the beta star.
Who is Orion?
What legends are told of him, who shines so brightly in the winter starry night?
In Greek mythology, Orion was the son of Poseidon, the god of the sea, and Euryale, a Cretan princess. He was so gorgeous and courageous that even Artemis, the goddess of the moon, fell in love with him, even to the point of marriage. However, since the Goddess of the Moon is so obsessed with Orion that it interferes with her duties, her brother Apollo, the God of the Sun, is against it. One day, while Orion was swimming, Apollo challenged Artemis to see if she could hit a floating point of light in the distance with her bow and arrow, and Artemis did not think twice about it and hit the point of light perfectly! However, when Artemis realised that her arrow had made a hole through Orion, she was heartbroken, and so she drove Orion and his two hounds up to the stars in the Moon Wagon.
In another story, Orion's death is linked to a scorpion. Some say he bragged about his ability to defeat all the creatures of the world, while others say he tried to molest the Goddess of the Moon, either way, a scorpion emerged from the earth and stung Orion to death. Afterwards, Orion and the scorpion both were put into the stars, namely Scorpius, the constellation of Scorpio. Even in the sky, Orion and Scorpius were in constant conflict, whenever one of them rose, the other sank and forever chased each other down.
Similarities between different cultures
Interestingly, in the Chinese astrological system, there is also a story about the Sang and Shang constellations (also known as the Heart constellations), which correspond to the Orion and Scorpio constellations respectively, not seeing each other. According to legend, during the reign of the Three Sovereigns and the Five Emperors, the two sons of the emperor were so incompatible that they fought whenever they met each other, which gave the emperor so much headache that he had to send his two sons to Da Xia and Shang Qiu respectively, so that they would never see each other again.
Orion stands high in the winter sky, different stories have been written about it by ancient people, adding a mysterious touch to the sky.
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Easter Egg
On May 15, 2025, Crocodile fell asleep by the river.
In his dreams, he was impressed by a hunter's archery skills.
Waking up, Crocodile looked at his short front legs,
sadly let go of his daydream and drifted off to sleep again.