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Guest Opinion: It's time Oregon put a price on carbon ... Medford school administrators get pay boost ... Our View: Cheers and jeers ... Guest Opinion: It's time Oregon put a price on carbon ... Medford school administrators get pay boost ... Looking Up: Orion, a starry friend, returns By Peter Becker More Content Now MailTribune.com By Peter Becker More Content Now Posted Nov. 28, 2014 @ 9:19 am By Peter Becker More Content Now Posted Nov. 28, 2014 @ 9:19 am » Social News The other night while walking with my wife, we were delighted to run into an old friend. He's not the type of literal friend like a human relationship can provide, and unlike a cat or dog, this one doesn't even purr or wag its tail. Still, he’s very faithful, and I've seen him every year about this time for over 40 years since I someone pointed him out. He only shows up at night and only when it's clear. Another star-watcher? Not really! One last hint: He has a shining belt, a tight waist, carries a sword and has a bright foot and a shoulder that glows red. Give up? He is a constellation, Orion the Hunter. All of the 88 constellations of the night sky are fanciful, imaginative pictures made out of the combinations of stars. The starry realm, of course, is oblivious. The constellations as we know them are only valid as seen from Earth and our solar system. If an astronaut travelled only a few light years to the nearest stars, there would begin to be small but noticeable shifts among some stars and our favorite star patterns would start to distort. It would be interesting, though, if one could dart about the galaxy and watch Orion, for example, start to shift about. Picturing the constellation as a mythological hunter, we might imagine him in motion as our moving starship reveals the starry placement in three dimensions. From our two-dimensional view aboard the Earth, Orion seems to never change. We can enjoy Orion rising in the east around 8 p.m. in late November/beginning of December every year. By mid-December, Orion will be seen rising an hour earlier. As seen from mid-northern latitudes, Orion appears to rise at about a 40 to 45 degree angle, his starry “feet” kicking up first, brilliant white Rigel leading the way and marking the bright “foot.” The three famous stars of the “belt” seem to be almost straight up and down when soon after clearing the eastern horizon. The “sword” stars, with the fuzzy Great Nebula of Orion in the middle, are just below the belt. Orion seems to be leaning back as he rises. The bright reddish-orange star Betelgeuse marks the shoulder on your left. While looking at Orion as it rises, look further up for the bright orange red-orange star Aldebaran seemingly connected to a V-shaped star cluster known as the Hyades. Right above that is the marvelous and more compact and bright star cluster, the Pleiades. This is just a taste of the starry splendor before you. As December opens, you will need to wait until about 1 a.m. to see Orion at its highest, due south. You must wait until the end of January to see Orion due south as early as 9 a.m. Orion is typically associated with frigid winter nights, for those of us not living (or “snow-birding”) in the far south. Hopefully evenings in late fall will be a bit more mild, encouraging more people to stroll outside and see their familiar stellar “friend” we know as Orion. Full moon is on Dec. 6: another faithful “friend.” Even the bright moonlight fails to wash out the bright stars of Orion. Notes are welcome at [email protected]. Keep looking up! By Peter Becker More Content Now MailTribune.com By Peter Becker More Content Now Posted Nov. 28, 2014 @ 9:19 am » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2014 Local Media Group, Inc. 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