Orion

Orion's Belt

Three Kings, Three Marys

skylore / traditional name · medium confidence

Mintaka, Alnilam, and Alnitak form the straight belt that makes Orion unmistakable. The line points down toward Sirius and up toward Aldebaran.

Central RA: 05^h 36^m 19.6^s
Central Dec: −01° 08′ 53″
Brightest member: V 1.70
Best months from 50°N: December–March evenings
Suggested instrument: naked-eye
Approx. span: 2.7°

Finder context

This wider chart is deliberately schematic: it uses nearby bright-star context and boxes the asterism’s member-star footprint, but it does not draw official constellation boundaries or promise horizon/season precision.

Framing: Approximate member-star span: 2.7°; use at least 3.8° field for context.

Observing and imaging

Naked eye

Primary naked-eye pattern; suburban skies should show the main stars unless the description notes a low horizon or dark-sky need.

Binoculars

Binoculars are optional: use them to check colours, nearby doubles, or richer Milky Way background.

Small scope

A telescope is usually too narrow for the whole shape; use it after the pattern has guided you to a target.

Imaging

Frame as a wide-field scene in/near Orion; a field of view around 5° keeps context without claiming exact constellation boundaries.

Tonight from your latitude

Observability from your latitude: uses this asterism’s centroid RA/Dec with a schematic local clock from longitude, astronomical twilight (Sun below −18°), and the 2026 Moon heuristic. Month stays for the seasonal readout.

Latitude 50°NLongitude -114°Date Month Sky darkness Bortle 4 · limit V 6.1

Naked-eye visibility by sky class

Approximate limiting magnitudes: Bortle 3 ≈ V 6.6, Bortle 5 ≈ V 5.6, Bortle 7 ≈ V 4.6. The shape is counted recognisable when at least 70% of defining stars clear the limit.

Bortle 3: 3/3 stars — fully visibleBortle 5: 3/3 stars — fully visibleBortle 7: 3/3 stars — fully visible

Moon impact

Reference year 2026, Jan: 17/31 nights (55%) have a sampled ≥2 h window with Orion's Belt above 20° and the Moon below the horizon. At transit the Moon is up on about 58% of nights; the average moonlight penalty is roughly 0.83 mag of naked-eye limiting magnitude. Good nights below are the deterministic 2026 best-month mini-calendar for 50°N; green means a ≥2 h sampled dark window with the Moon down.

01020304050607080910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031

Member stars

Name	Bayer / Flamsteed	HR	RA J2000	Dec J2000	V mag
Alnilam	46Eps Ori	HR 1903	05^h 36^m 12.8^s	−01° 12′ 07″	1.70
Alnitak	50Zet Ori	HR 1948	05^h 40^m 45.5^s	−01° 56′ 34″	2.05
Mintaka	34Del Ori	HR 1852	05^h 32^m 00.4^s	−00° 17′ 57″	2.23

Source and confidence

skylore / traditional name; medium confidence. Traditional or folk name carried through older public-domain star-name literature; the plotted stars are still BSC5 positions.

Citations

Bright Star Catalogue, 5th Revised Ed.: Hoffleit, D. & Warren, W.H. Jr. (1991). Positions, V magnitudes, Bayer/Flamsteed identifiers. source
Star Names and Their Meanings: Allen, R.H. (1899). Public-domain skylore and traditional names.
The Hipparcos and Tycho Catalogues: ESA SP-1200 (1997). Used as the modern astrometric reference named by the atlas; the MVP pages expose BSC5 J2000 fields for the plotted bright-star members.