Do you have children or grandchildren? Perhaps a younger brother or sister? Then, there is no greater gift which you can give them than to pass on the love of the starry skies. Right now, one of the easiest constellations to recognize – Orion – is a cinch to find for both the northern and southern hemisphere. Let’s take advantage of the weekend’s early moon-free skies as we take the young folks out to look for Night Lights and practice some astronomy for kids!
The asterisms we see in the stars might look close together from our point of view, but if we could fly by them or see them from from another solar system they would all appear very far apart. If we were able to journey past the stars in Orion, we would see they really aren’t even connected to each other – or even close! If you take a look at this illustration you can get an idea of how far apart the stars of Orion really are looking at them from Earth. While they make a pattern in the sky, they are very far apart in space!
If you live in the city, you will probably be able to see many of the stars that make up the constellation of Orion – but if you drive to the country you will be amazed at all the stars you can see with just your eyes. Practice finding Orion the Hunter and see how many of its stars you can see. In just a few weeks, you can take part in a very exciting science study where you will become a Star Hunter!
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