Orion Ori
Orion is one of the 88 constellations, covering 594 square degrees of the sky (26th largest). It is highest at midnight in December and best in the evening sky in January and February.
23 of its best-known objects have a page of their own here.
Facts
| Abbreviation | Ori |
|---|---|
| Size | 594 square degrees (26th largest of the 88; the full Moon covers about 0.2) |
| Middle (J2000) | 5h 35m, +5° |
| Highest at midnight | December (in the evening, around 8–10 pm: January and February) |
| How high | From India (about 20° N) its middle climbs to about 75° above the horizon; from 50° N, to about 45°. |
| Pages here | 23 objects |
Nebulae
12Black holes, pulsars and other extreme objects
1Stars
10Brightest NGC and IC objects
OpenNGC| Object | Type | Magnitude | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| NGC 1980 (Lower Sword) | Star cluster with nebula | 2.5 | 9.3′ |
| M42 · NGC 1976 (Great Orion Nebula) | Star cluster with nebula | 4 | 90′ |
| NGC 1981 (Upper Sword) | Star cluster with nebula | 4.2 | 9′ |
| NGC 1788 | Reflection nebula | 5.8 | 2′ |
| NGC 2169 (on the map) | Open star cluster | 5.9 | 7.2′ |
| NGC 1662 (on the map) | Open star cluster | 6.4 | 13.8′ |
| NGC 2175 (on the map) | Star cluster with nebula | 6.8 | 5.4′ |
| NGC 1973 (on the map) | Nebula | 7 | 5′ |
| NGC 1975 (on the map) | Nebula | 7 | 10′ |
| M78 · NGC 2068 | Reflection nebula | 8 | 4.5′ |
| NGC 2071 (on the map) | Star cluster with nebula | 8 | 7′ |
| NGC 2194 (on the map) | Open star cluster | 8.5 | 8.7′ |
Smaller magnitudes are brighter; the faintest stars the eye sees are about 6. The full Moon is about 31′ across.
Data: IAU constellation boundaries (Roman 1987) · OpenNGC (Mattia Verga, CC BY-SA 4.0) · Data sources & credits