How to find Orion and its three Belt stars
Start with Orion’s Belt: three stars in a short, nearly straight row. Around them, brighter stars mark a broad figure. Orion is an evening landmark in northern winter and southern summer, but whether you can see it tonight depends on your latitude, date and time.
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Build the figure outward from the Belt
The Belt stars are Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka. Find the row first, then look for reddish Betelgeuse and blue-white Rigel on opposite sides of the figure. From the Northern Hemisphere, Betelgeuse marks the upper-left shoulder and Rigel the lower-right foot. Color may be subtle, especially in a bright sky.
A short group of stars and hazy light hanging from the Belt forms the Sword. In a dark sky, part of it may look fuzzy: that region includes the Orion Nebula. Above Tonight draws the constellation’s stars and lines, not a detailed nebula view. Greek myth makes Orion a hunter; the figure is much older than any one story.
Orion at a glance
Every star of Orion climbs above the horizon at some point in the year from latitudes between about 70°S and 80°N. At 9 pm it stands high (30° or more) from 50°N from Dec to Mar, and from 35°S from Dec to Feb.
| Latitude | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50°N | High | High | High | Low | — | — | — | — | — | — | Low | High |
| 35°N | High | High | High | Low | — | — | — | — | — | — | Low | High |
| 35°S | High | High | Low | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Low | High |
| Star | Magnitude | Light-years | Color |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rigel | 0.18 | 863 | Blue-white |
| Betelgeuse | 0.45 | 498 | Red-orange |
| Bellatrix | 1.64 | 252 | Blue-white |
| Alnilam | 1.69 | 1977 | Blue-white |
| Alnitak | 1.74 | 736 | Blue-white |
| Saiph | 2.07 | 647 | Blue-white |
“High” is 30° or more above the horizon, “Low” 10° to 30°. Times are local mean time; daylight saving moves the clock an hour later. A lower magnitude is a brighter star. Distances are from the HYG catalogue, rounded.
Check Orion in your own sky
- Set the map to your observing location and time.
- Open search, type “Orion” and choose the constellation. The view turns to its figure.
- Compare the Belt and surrounding stars with the horizon. The map also draws below-horizon stars; those are hidden by Earth.
Star-hop onward from the Belt
From the Northern Hemisphere, follow the Belt down and to the left to Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. Follow it up and to the right to orange Aldebaran in Taurus, and carry on a little farther to the Pleiades, a small, tight cluster of stars. From the Southern Hemisphere the figure is turned over, so up and down and left and right swap.
When and from where
Orion lies close to the celestial equator, so people in both hemispheres can see it. In the north it is an evening landmark roughly from December to March; in the south those months are summer, and the figure stands upside down. Stars rise about four minutes earlier each night, so Orion gets about two hours earlier each month. In northern late spring and early summer it is too close to the Sun’s direction to find.
Is it Orion’s Belt?
Other short rows of stars exist, but few are as bright, evenly spaced and close together as the Belt, and few are framed by two bright stars as different in color as Betelgeuse and Rigel. A reddish star on one side of the row and a blue-white star on the other is a good sign that you have Orion. The whole Belt is only about 3 degrees across, a fraction of one fist held at arm’s length.
Judge size with your hand
A fist at arm’s length spans about 10 degrees and the width of your little finger about 1 degree. From Betelgeuse to Rigel is roughly two fists. Use this to judge how high Orion stands and whether you are looking at the right group.
Why does Orion look tilted or upside down?
The same stars can appear in a different orientation as they move across the sky, and observers in opposite hemispheres see the pattern differently. Match the three-star row and the surrounding bright stars rather than expecting the figure to stand upright like a picture in a book.
Why can’t you find it tonight?
It may not have risen, may already have set, or may lie too close to the Sun’s direction for a dark-sky view at that time of year. Try another hour or date in the map. A constellation is an extended pattern: one star can be above the horizon while another is still below it.
Cloud and city light can erase fainter parts even when the main outline is up. The map shows calculated positions, not a forecast of what your eyes will detect. Its lines are one drawing convention connecting stars; they are not visible lines in the sky.
Questions people ask
What time will Orion be visible tonight?
It is visible whenever it is above the horizon in a dark enough sky. In early winter in the north it rises in the evening and is highest around midnight; later in winter it is highest earlier and sets sooner. Move the time on the sky map to see when it rises and sets for you.
When can you see Orion in the sky?
In the Northern Hemisphere, in the evening from about December to March, and in the late-night and pre-dawn sky from late summer through autumn. In the Southern Hemisphere the same months are summer, and Orion appears upside down. In between it is near the Sun’s direction and hard to find.
What are the three stars in a row called?
They are Orion’s Belt: Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, from east to west. Some traditions call them the Three Kings. They are all fairly bright and evenly spaced, which is what makes the Belt the easiest way into the rest of the figure.