Find out more. It was first observed by the French astronomer Pierre Méchain in 1780 and included in Messier’s catalogue later that year. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). The star’s traditional name, Tabit, comes from the Arabic Al-Tabit, meaning “the endurer.”. Also known as Tabit, this (possibly multiple) star system is located about 26.2 light-years (ly) away from our Sun, Sol. Both belong to the spectral type B2V and their respective magnitudes are 6.62 and 6.66. The constellation is also known as the Hunter, as it is associated with one in Greek mythology. The star’s traditional name, Meissa, comes from the Arabic Al-Maisan, which means the shining one. Sometimes it is also called the Great Nebula or the Great Orion Nebula. Charles Messier later designated the nebulosity Messier 43 and included it in his catalogue. Rigel is only about 10 million years old. This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It belongs to the spectral type B8lab and is 772.51 light years distant. It will likely explode as a supernova in the next million years. The proper motion of π4 Orionis is However, the star is too close to us to be a real member of that particular stellar association. The second brightest star in Orion, Betelgeuse, Alpha Orionis, has an apparent magnitude of 0.43 and is the eighth brightest star in the night sky. Chi-1 Orionis is a main sequence dwarf, only 28 light years distant from Earth. The dwarf was first discovered in 1998. The star has an apparent magnitude of 0.42 and is approximately 643 light years distant. Alnitak is the easternmost star in Orion’s Belt. Orion is often shown as facing the attack of a bull, yet there are no myths in Greek mythology telling any such tale. Change the target language to find translations. References To the naked eye, the Orion Nebula appears as the slightly blurry central “star” in Orion’s Sword, south of Orion’s Belt. For this reason, Pi-3 Orionis is considered a possible location for Earth-size planets. It is really a spectroscopic binary star, composed of two hot class B2 stars, a giant and a subgiant. Simplified finder chart for π4 Orionis (pi4 Orionis). Because of its moderate brightness, π4 Orionis should be easily visible from locations with dark skyes, while it Eventually, it will grow into a red supergiant, one very similar to Betelgeuse. In one myth, Orion fell in love with the Pleiades, the seven sisters, daughters of Atlas and Pleione. Betelgeuse is part of two prominent winter asterisms: the Winter Triangle and the Winter Hexagon. ○   Lettris π4 Orionis is a variable giant star Messier 78 is a reflection nebula in Orion. Letters must be adjacent and longer words score better. The war goddess Anat fell in love with him, but after he refused to lend her his bow, she tried to steal it.