FREE ESSAY ON ORION

ORION

Orion 
Down fell the red skin of the lion
Into the river at his feet.
His mighty club no longer beat
The forehead of the bull; but he
Reeled as of yore beside the sea,
When blinded by Oenopion
He sought the blacksmith at his forge,
And climbing up the narrow gorge,
Fixed his blank eyes upon the sun.
~The Occultation of Orion by Mr. Longfellow~
This poem was written about the Greek myth of Orion. The story says that Orion, the son
of Neptune, was a handsome giant and a mighty hunter. His father gave him the power of
wading through the depths of the sea, or, as others would say, walking on its surface.
Orion loved Merope, the daughter of Oenopion, king of Chios, and sought her in marriage.
He cleared the island of wild beasts, and brought the spoils of the chase as presents to
his beloved; but as Oenopion constantly deferred his consent, Orion attempted to gain
possession of the maiden by violence. Her father, incensed at this conduct, having made
Orion drunk, deprived him of his sight and cast him out on the seashore. The blinded hero
followed the sound, of a Cyclops' hammer till he reached Lemnos, and came to the forge of
Vulcan(Hephaestus), who, taking pity on him, gave him Kedalion, one of his men to be his
guide to the abode of the sun. Placing Kedalion on his shoulders, Orion proceeded to the
east, and there meeting the sun-god(Helios) was restored to sight by his beam.
After this he dwelt as a hunter with Diana(Artemis), with whom he was a favorite, and it
was even said she was about to marry him. Her brother was highly displeased and often
chid with her, but for no purpose. One day, observing Orion wading through the sea with
his head just above the water, Apollo pointed it out to his sister and maintained that
she could not hit that black thing on the sea. The archer-goddess discharged a shaft with
fatal aim. The waves rolled the dead body of Orion to the land, and bewailing her fatal
error with many tears, Diana placed him among the stars, where he appears as a giant,
with a girdle, sword, lion's skin, and club. Sirius, his dog, follows him, and the
Pleiads fly before him.
Orion, the brightest constellation in the sky, is easy to find if you look for the three
bright stars that make up Orion's belt. Once you have found this distinctive pattern, two
other very bright stars will help you define the rest of the constellation. The first
star, Betelgeuse, is located at Orion's right shoulder. The second, Rigel, is at his
lower left. Orion is the great hunter, aiming his arrow and holding his club over his
head. His sword hangs from his belt. In the area of this sword are found a number of very
exciting star formation regions, including the Great Nebula of Orion. The nebula is
visible with the unaided eye, as a smudge about halfway down his sword.
The Great Nebula of Orion(star M42) is one of the most photographed objects in the sky.
This area is a collection of gas and dust where stars are being born. The central bright
star that is illuminating the gaseous cloud is actually four stars known as the
Trapezium. The nebula itself is one of the nearest star formations at only about 1,500
light years away. It has formed stars recently, only 300,000 years ago.
In Orion many of the stars have different colors, colors 
tell us about a star's temperature, composition, age, size, and
distance from us. Red stars are generally older, cooler stars
that have used up much of their hydrogen fuel. Blue stars are
generally younger and hotter. Most of these stars are blue, with 
the exception of the very red star, Betelgeuse. Betelgeuse is a 
red supergiant, Rigel is a blue supergiant. The red streak in the
sword area is the Orion Nebula.
Orion is located in the celestial equator and Orion's 
outstretched upper arm is located in the Milky Way. Orion
is followed by two hunting dogs at his right. One of these, Canis Major, contains the
brightest star in the sky. This star, Sirius, is located just where the dog's neck meets
his body. Sirius should help you find Orion, and Orion is also shooting at Taurus the
Bull.