ORION !
©2025 John B Cox
Nature’s Celestial Masterpiece
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ORION - The Great Hunter
The Constellation Art of Urania’s Mirror
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CONTENTS - ORION Introduction
Introduction Page 3 This very day, (Tuesday 22nd September 2025 on the Gre-
gorian Calendar), we celebrate a specific moment in time
The Mythology Page 4 (18:20 UTC) when the centre of our star, SOL, passes direct-
The Asterism Page 5 ly over the Earth’s equator. This is known as an Equinox.
Sky Chart & Principal Stars Page 6 Specifically, the Autumnal Equinox in the Northern Hemi-
sphere. In the Southern Hemisphere it is known as the Vernal
Visual Perception Page 7 or Spring Equinox
Visual Reality Page 7
This event occurs twice each year, six months apart on a date
Coordinates of Main-Body Stars Page 8 of 22nd or 23rd September and 20th or 21st March.
Coordinates of Orion & General Info’ Page 9 During this important celestial event our Sun crosses the
ecliptic, the path of Earth’s orbital plane around the Sun.
19 DSO Coordinates Data & Images Pages 10-19
This, effectively, is the end of the Summer Season in the
Summary of 19 DSO’s & Credits Page 19
Northern Hemisphere and termination of Winter in the South-
Magnificent “Heart of the Sword” Page 20 ern Hemisphere.
Curated Target List Page 21 It is now Autumn and Spring respectively, and with it comes a
gradual change in the visibility of Constellations. The seasons
Target List Coordinates Page 22 have changed and the sky patterns continue to move in a re-
Montage of Target List Objects Page 23 lentless progression from east to west in their annual cycle.
Miscellaneous Information Pages 24-25 It’s time for the mighty constellation ORION to take control
and dominate our night skies in his progression westward,
Message from the Author/Resources Pages 26-27 chasing those flighty seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione.
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ORION - The Mythology - (A Greek Perspective)
Associated in Greek mythology as “The Hunter”, son of the Talking of which, Orion was prone to do chasing, as well!
great sea god Poseidon and one of the three gorgon sisters,
Euryale. (Her siblings were Stheno & the more infamous Medusa When it comes to the
who lost her head of snakes to the hero Perseus in his quest to bring chase, it was not just
her head to the evil king Polydectes, so as to save his mother Danaë animals Orion pur-
from the king’s evil clutches). [This is a myth to “pursue” on another sued, he was known
occasion!] to be as lustful as his
father Zeus!
Other traditions say that Euryale was the daughter of King
Minos. (But you may prefer the more fantastical version Orion sought to conquest each of the seven beautiful daugh-
above!) ters of the Titan Atlas, and the Nymph Pleione.
Orion boasted he could kill every animal on Earth, which led To escape his unwanted attention the seven sisters were trans-
to Gaia (Mother Earth) sending a scorpion (Scorpius) to kill formed into the “Pleiades” by Zeus, and even today in our
him! modern era, we see Orion STILL in hot-pursuit of those beau-
tiful sisters in their voluptuous flowing transparent blue veils.
After his death, Zeus (some say it was the
goddess, Artemis) placed Orion in the heav-
ens to commemorate him. He is depicted as a Their parents, (Atlas
giant with his belt, sword, lion’s skin shield and Pleione) are with
and wielding a club whilst kneeling. their daughters now
urging them onward
and warding-off the
Zeus also placed the Scorpion in the unwelcome attentions
heavens, to forever chase after, Orion. of Orion!
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ORION - The Asterism - There is more to myths than meets the eye, & it’s written in the stars … As Above, So Below!
An “Asterism” is merely a two-dimensional view of The ancient Egyptian Creator God “SAHU”
stars as seen from Earth - after joining the dots. who is considered the complete embodiment of
(Pareidolia) their Constellation “OSIRIS” (who was their
god of Resurection) and likened to the life-
The Constellation ORION's main blood of the Acacia, which is known to contain
body “asterism“ & named stars, hidden extractable potentials of DMT, a psy-
overlain onto an astro photo- chedelic drug.
graph image . This is said to
trick the brain
Orion’s head & shoulders are into a near-
defined by the stars, Phi 1 Ori-
onis, Betelgeuse & Bellatrix. His death state of mind, before
belt, by the line of three stars, resurrecting the initiates’
B33 Mintaka, Alnilam and Alnitak. belief in an everlasting soul!
His sword is partly formed by the SAHU manifests upon the
M42
M42 Nebula & associated parts; “As Above, so Below” cosmos by a mythology of
& Horsehead & Flame Nebulae
B33 & a union between OSIRIS & the head of the constellation
NGC WENET the Hare, known today as LEPUS.
2024.
His left knee is Eta Orionis,
By connecting the ‘dots’ we create a two-dimensional
his right knee & left foot are rendition of the molecular structure of DMT, which
the Stars Saiph & Rigel. recent studies have concluded, promotes neurogenesis
IMAGE: Barnard 33 (B33) Horsehead
within the human brain!
Nebula and NGC 2024 Flame Nebula
©2025 Duncan Pond (I do not condone experimenting by connecting the dots in reality!!)
forming part of the Sword of Orion.
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ORION - Sky Chart ORION’s Principal Stars
A ‘fun’ calculation to establish the mind-blowing distances involved.
The Sun’s distance to Earth circa 150,000 kms = 1 AU (Astronomical Unit).
Photons of light travel in the vacuum of space at circa 300,000 kms/sec.
The Constellation of ORION In one light year a photon of light would travel 63,241 AU’s.
Distance Earth to Bellatrix (Orion’s closest main-body star) is:
252 light years x 63,241 AU’s = 15,936,732 AU’s
That is almost 16 million times the distance from the Earth to the Sun!!
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ORION - Visual Perception - Earth’s View ORION - Visual Reality - An External View
We live & move around in a visually three-dimensional Now, use some of that enquiring mind we are
world which we take for granted. endowed with! Envisage sitting on our nearest
neighbour star, Proxima Centauri; it is, after
We understand the difference between the sheet of paper & all, only some 4.25 light years distant, so we do
the coffee cup sat on the desk. Seemingly 2 -vs- 3 dimensions. not have to stretch out imagination too far!
(You may of course wish to take a “cool cushion”)
But, in reality, even the paper IS three dimensional.
We look out across the Milky Way and espy a bright blue
We look at the heavens, the images of constellations in the giant star in the far distance. We recognise it as “Bellatrix”
sky, and they appear two dimensional. the nearest to Earth of the main-body stars of the Orion Con-
stellation; it is the Great Hunter’s left shoulder!
We no longer see the connected-dots of Orion’s stars as we
do from Earth; non-the-less through the magic of imagination
we have located where those stars are, side-on to Proxima.
Earth
THEY ARE NOT; and we “know” it! View
Where has the Great Hunter gone
BUT ... How can we prove it?? to? Proxima cannot see him!
Let’s just nip to the other side of the page & find out ……. We see them strung out across the heavens unrecognisable
in shape; just a line of seemingly random stars and we plot
their distant locations stretching out to 2,000 [Link] away.
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ORION - J2000 Celestial Coordinates of the Nine Main-Body Stars of the Constellation
Common Name: Star Ref: Designation: Bellatrix designated as γ Orionis (gamma Orionis), is a variable and double giant star
of spectral class B2 . Visual magnitude 1.64 the 25th brightest star in the sky. Colour
BELLATRIX HR 1790 γ Orionis Blue.
RA: 05h 25m 07s Dec: +06° 22’ 58” Betelgeuse designated as α Orionis (alpha Orionis), is a variable and multiple supergi-
ant star of spectral class M1. Visual magnitude is 0.5, making it the 10th brightest star in
BETELGEUSE HR 2061 α Orionis the sky. Colour Orange.
RA: 05h 55m 10s Dec: +07° 24’ 24” Saiph designated as κ Orionis (kappa Orionis), is a variable hypergiant star
of spectral class B0. Visual magnitude is 2.06, making it the 56th brightest
SAIPH HR 2004 K Orionis star in the sky. Colour Blue.
RA: 05h 47m 45s Dec: -09° 40’ 10”
Mintaka designated as δ Orionis (delta Orionis), is a variable and multiple
MINTAKA HR 1852 ξ Orionis bright giant star of spectral class O9. Visual magnitude is 2.23, making it the
67th brightest star in the sky. Colour Blue.
RA: 05h 32m 00s Dec: -00° 17’ 57”
Alnitak designated as ζ Orionis (zeta Orionis), is a variable and multiple
ALNITAK HR 1948 ζ Orionis supergiant star of spectral class O9. Visual magnitude is 2.05, making it the
RA: 05h 45m 30s Dec: -01° 56’ 34” 52th brightest star in the sky. Colour Blue.
RIGEL HR 1713 β Orionis Rigel designated as β Orionis (beta Orionis), is a variable and multiple su-
pergiant star of spectral class B8. Visual magnitude is 0.12, making it the 7th
RA: 05h 14m 32s Dec: -08° 12’ 06” brightest star in the sky. Colour Blue.
Eta ORIONIS HR 1788 η Orionis Eta Orionis designated as η Orionis is a variable and multiple main-
RA: 05h 24m 29s Dec: -02° 23’ 50” sequence star of spectral class B1. Visual magnitude is 3.36 has moderate
brightness. Colour Blue.
Phi1 ORIONIS HR 1876 φ1 Orionis Phi1 Orionis designated as φ1 Orionis is a single-lined spectroscopic binary
RA: 05h 24m 28s Dec: -02° 23’ 48” star system with an orbital period of 3,068 days. The primary component is a
B-type giant star classification BOIII. Visual magnitude of [Link] Blue.
ALNILAM HR 1903 ε Orionis Alnilam designated as ε Orionis (epsilon Orionis), is a variable and double
RA: 05h 36m 12s Dec: -01° 12’ 06” hypergiant star of spectral class B0 in the constellation of Orion. Visual
magnitude is 1.7, making it the 28th brightest star in the sky. Colour Blue.
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ORION - The Constellation - Celestial Coordinates and General Information
Centroid Coordinates of ORION (Ori or Orio) RA 05h 37m 01s Dec +03° 43’ 49”
The main-body asterism of the constellation (excluding Ori- The ORION Constellation extends about 36° across the sky
on’s arms, club and shield), contains 9 stars as outlined on situated close to the celestial equator, and is partly visible
pages 5 & 6 of this Guide. from both Hemispheres at certain times of the year.
There are 222 stars brighter than magnitude 6.5 in Orion . Image of Messier 42 (M42) The Great Orion Nebula
There are 95 deep sky objects (DSO’s) in the constellation
including objects from the Messier (M), New General Cata-
logue (NGC) and Index Catalogue (IC).
The 19 brightest DSO’s include the following Open Clusters,
Star Cluster + Nebulae, Reflection Nebulae, Nebulae and
HII Ionized Regions:
NGC1662 NGC1788 NGC1973 NGC1975
NGC1980 NGC1981 NGC1999 NGC2071
NGC2112 NGC2141 NGC2169 NGC2175
NGC2180 NGC2186 NGC2194 IC434
M42 M43 M78
These 19 DSO’s are the subject matter for further in-
vestigation and analysis, within this Guide.
See Pages 10 -19
©2025 Duncan Pond
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NGC1662 - Open Cluster NCG1788 - Reflection Nebula
NGC 1662 is situated close to the celestial equator and is part- NGC 1788 is situated close to the celestial equator and is part-
ly visible from both hemispheres in certain times of the year. ly visible from both hemispheres in certain times of the year.
Visual magnitude of 6.4 B magnitude of 5
RA 04h 48m 29s Dec +10° 55’ 49” RA 05h 06m 52 s Dec –03° 20’ 27”
FINDER CHARTS
Finder Chart
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NGC1973 - Nebula (part of the “Running Man”) NGC1975 - Nebula (part of the “Running Man”)
NGC 1973 is situated close to the celestial equator and is part- NGC 1975 (Sh2 –279) is situated close to the celestial equator
ly visible from both hemispheres in certain times of the year. and is partly visible from both hemispheres in certain times of
B magnitude of 7 the year. B magnitude of 7
RA 05h 35m 04s Dec –04° 43’ 54” RA 05h 35m 17s Dec –04° 41’ 07”
FINDER CHARTS
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NGC1980 - Star Cluster & Nebula (lower sword) NGC1981 - Star Cluster & Nebula (upper sword)
NGC 1980 is situated close to the celestial equator and is part- NGC 1981 is situated close to the celestial equator and is part-
ly visible from both hemispheres in certain times of the year. ly visible from both hemispheres in certain times of the year.
Visual magnitude of 2.5 Visual magnitude of 4.2
RA 05h 35m 26s Dec –05° 54’ 36” RA 05h 35m 209s Dec –04° 25’ 29”
FINDER CHARTS
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NGC1999 - Reflection Nebula NGC2071—Star Cluster & Nebula
NGC 1999 is situated close to the celestial equator and is part- NGC 2071 is situated close to the celestial equator and is part-
ly visible from both hemispheres in certain times of the year. ly visible from both hemispheres in certain times of the year.
B magnitude of 9 B magnitude of 8
RA 05h 36m 24s Dec –06° 42’ 56” RA 05h 47m 07s Dec +00° 17’ 39”
FINDER CHARTS
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NGC2112 - Open Cluster NGC2141 - Open Cluster
NGC 2112 is situated close to the celestial equator and is part- NGC 2141 is situated close to the celestial equator and is part-
ly visible from both hemispheres in certain times of the year. ly visible from both hemispheres in certain times of the year.
Visual magnitude of 9.1 Visual magnitude of 9.4
RA 05h 53m 44s Dec –00° 24’ 38” RA 06h 02m 54s Dec +10° 26’ 47”
FINDER CHARTS
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NGC2169 - Open Cluster NGC2175 - Star Cluster & Nebula
NGC 2169 is situated close to the celestial equator and is part- NGC 2175 is situated close to the celestial equator and is part-
ly visible from both hemispheres in certain times of the year. ly visible from both hemispheres in certain times of the year.
Visual magnitude of 5.9 Visual magnitude of 6.8
RA 06h 08m 23s Dec +13° 57 53” RA 06h 09m 39s Dec +20° 29’ 15”
FINDER CHARTS
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NGC2180- Open Cluster NGC2186 - Open Cluster
NGC 2180 is situated close to the celestial equator and is part- NGC 2186 is situated close to the celestial equator and is
ly visible from both hemispheres in certain times of the year. partly visible from both hemispheres in certain times of the
B magnitude of 9 year. Visual magnitude of 8.7
RA 06h 09m 36s Dec +04° 42’ 41” RA 06h 12m 06s Dec +05° 27’ 30”
FINDER CHARTS
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NGC2194 - Open Cluster IC434 - HII Ionized Region (“Flame Nebula”)
NGC 2194 is situated close to the celestial equator and is part- IC 434 is situated close to the celestial equator and is partly
ly visible from both hemispheres in certain times of the year. visible from both hemispheres in certain times of the year. B
B magnitude of 9 magnitude of 11
RA 06h 13m 45s Dec +12° 48’ 24” RA 05h 41m 00s Dec -02° 27’ 14”
FINDER CHARTS
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MESSIER 42 (M42) - (Star Cluster & Nebula) MESSIER 43 (M43) - (HII Ionised Region)
M42 the “Great Orion Nebula” is situated close to the celes- M43 the “Mairan’s Nebula” is situated close to the celestial
tial equator and is partly visible from both hemispheres in equator and is partly visible from both hemispheres in certain
certain times of the year. Visual magnitude of 4 times of the year. Visual magnitude of 9
RA 05h 35m 16s Dec –05° 23’ 22” RA 05h 35m 30s Dec –05° 16 03”
FINDER CHARTS
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MESSIER 78 (M78) - Reflection Nebula SUMMARY of Orion’s 19 Brightest DSO’s
M78 the “Great Orion Nebula” is situated close to the celes- The ORION Constellation contains 95 deep sky objects
tial equator and is partly visible from both hemispheres in of which the brightest 19 of those DSO’s are detailed in
certain times of the year. Visual magnitude of 8
pairs, on the previous pages 10 to 19, inclusive.
RA 05h 46m 45s Dec –00° 04’ 45” All data and images contained
within the above pages is by cour-
tesy of “The SKY Live” website
([Link] and not the original work of the
author of this Guide. (No endorsement to this Guide has
been given by The Sky Live.) Sincere thanks to Lacopo.
FINDER CHART Photographs of the 19 DSO’s are taken in the red band
channel, as part of the Digitised Sky Survey 2 (DSS2)
There are many magnificent DSO targets available to
capture, with your DWARF LAB Dwarf II or D3 Smart
Telescopes, within the Constellation of Orion. This
Guide has merely highlighted the 19 brightest as defined
by The Sky Live website.
The following pages take a deeper look into some of
the many spectacular DSO targets that can be cap-
tured by your Dwarf Telescope. Courtesy of Duncan
Pond at DwarfVision is a spectacular image overpage,
followed by his curated list of special targets within
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M42 - M43 - NGC 1973/75/77 (Sh2 279) Great Orion, Mairan’s & Running Man Nebulae
©2025 Duncan Pond
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ORION - Recommended targets within Orion Constellation - ©Curated by Duncan Pond
Common Name Designation (s) Type of Object Location/Key Feature Astrophotography Notes
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ORION - J2000 Coordinates for Curated targets within Orion Constellation (The Sky Live)
REFERENCE COMMON NAME REFERENCE COMMON NAME
NGC1788
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©2025 Duncan Pond M42 ©2025 Duncan Pond B33 ©2025 Duncan Pond B30 ©ESA/Hubble - K. Noll NGC1999
©2025 Duncan Pond M43 ©Team ARO NGC2024 ©NASA (DSS) IC2118 ©2025 Duncan Pond NGC1980
©2025 Duncan Pond NGC1977 ©Capturing Ancient Photons NGC1788
©2025 Duncan Pond M78 ©ESA - R. Wade NGC2022
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ORION - Miscellaneous Information
M45 Pleiades in TAURUS ©NASA - DSS
ORION with his hunting dog SIRIUS, looks at the big red eye of ALDEBARAN, then continues to pursue the PLEIADES
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ORION - Miscellaneous Information - Cont’d
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A Message from the Author:
Dear Reader,
This guide, "ORION !” follows-on to my recently published “EQUINOX ?” which
outlined the celestial mechanics behind the Autumnal & Vernal (Spring) Equinoxes.
With the Northern Hemisphere Autumnal & Southern Hemisphere Vernal Equinox
due this very day, at 18:20 hrs UTC, how COULD I NOT produce this booklet to cele-
brate the changes we see in the heavens above; bringing to dominance everyone's fa-
vourite Constellation? (Well, at least a lot of people’s favourite, maybe?)
This booklet looks at the autumnal-dominance of the Constellation ORION relentlessly
chasing westwards, those beautiful seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione. ORION, The
Hunter, is such an easily-recognisable constellation with his main body consisting of
nine stars of such tremendous size and distances, they inspire awe in their magnificence.
I seek to identify a series of DSO targets for the avid “Dwarfer” to pursue; chasing
after ORION as he chases the PLEIADES west through the Autumn/Spring skies and
on to Winter/Summer. (It all depends on your point of view, Southerly or Northerly.)
There is nothing too technical to blow the mind; just some facts (a few assumptions,) a
few suggestions, coordinates, finder charts and images and a bit of general bumf!
May you be able to observe this wonder of nature.
Clear Skies, & fully-charged batteries!
John B Cox
22nd September 2025
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RESOURCES Previous works by the Author
For those members of the DWARF LAB Community 01 Feb 2025 Astro Processing Workflow 12 Jul 2025 Seasonal Guide 99 Summer
Dso
interested in further enhancing their DWARF experi-
ence, I have previously compiled several comprehen- 01 Feb 2025 Astro Processing Flowcharts
24 Jul 2025 Reference Guide DWARFLAB
sive guides. These technical works (listed here) are
24 Feb 2025 Astro Catalogues
designed to help you maximize the enjoyment of your 18 Aug 2025 Viewing Guide DWARFLAB
DWARF Smart Telescope and are available to mem-
26 Feb 2025 Calculate AU
bers in the Files section of your Community Page. 26 Aug 2025 CLEAR SKIES ?
28 Feb 2025 Astro Calculators
31 Aug 2025 LUNA ?
CREDITS: Images used in this work, have been ob-
tained from online sources, credited as such, & are be- 31 Mar 2025 Caldwell Objects
02 Sep 2025 ECLIPSE ?
lieved to be in the public domain. All images text or
diagrams are used in good faith for non-commercial, 05 Apr 2025 Messier Objects
14 Sep 2025 SOL ?
educational, and illustrative purposes under the princi-
ples of fair use. Many images have been generously 06 Apr 2025 DII & D3 Target Schedule
provided be Duncan Pond (DwarfVision) & credited to 16 Sep 2025 ECLIPSE ‘26
him. Certain other elements are the work of the Au- 07 May 2025 Constellation Catalogue
thor and have been taken from his earlier work 18 Sep 2025 EQUINOX ?
“CONSTELLATIONS” 21st May 2025. 21 May 2025 Constellation Catalogue v.1.2
22 Sep 2025 ORION !
28 May 2025 Transitional Objects v.1.0
This work is produced in Ms Publisher and saved in
PDF format for ease of printing, if required. 4 Jun 2025 Field Guide Messier/Caldwell
The file is set to print A5 Landscape pages. Text, 25 Jun 2025 Field Guide Barnard Dark Neb
data and images are tabulated as 2 sheets per page, (to
help save the planet from excess printing!) 04 Jul 2025 Field Guide Sharpless HII
Reg’
©2025 John B Cox
27