Caption: Third place in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Time lapses of celestial patterns.   This video tries to cover a huge variety of phenomena in the night sky from different locations — Iceland and China — and is designed like a theatre play, starring mother nature herself. It starts with a blue twilight sky that dims and unveils the starry night sky on the stage with terrestrial clouds on a beautiful landscape. The impressive parts of the southern Milky Way between Scorpius and Crux, with the pointer stars Alpha and Beta Centaurus, are shown passing by majestically. The terrestrial clouds blur the stars and allow us to recognise their colours even more clearly. The first act presents the starry sky in human culture. One scene shows the Pleiades rising over the top of a hill, while a human moves hastily with a flashlight below. At the very moment that the Pleiades rises behind the hill, the beam of the flashlight hits the camera. There is some humour in this remarkable scene referencing the human relationship to the rise of the Pleiades in cultural history. The next scene shows The Big Dipper, Ursa Major, as a typical northern constellation, with an arch of aurora below it. The aurora evolves and moves but does not change much fundamentally. In northern human cultures, aurorae were often interpreted as the ghosts of ancestors, but this play does not spend any time on human beliefs, instead moving the view southwards in the subsequent scenes. First we see some stars rising shortly before sunrise. The lightcone of Zodiacal light appears in Gemini/Taurus and the horizon gets brighter. In the next scene, at about 1 minute and 13 seconds, we see Orion setting over water, so that the water surface mirrors the celestial scene. Some clouds crossing the image prove that the videos were really taken on our beautiful planet, and, since Orion’s shoulder and foot are seen to set almost simultaneously, this sequence must have been captured almost at the equator. In this area, the bright stars of Orion look like a huge butterfly, with Orion’s Belt forming the body, and the quadrilateral of four bright stars interpreted as the wings. As in a real theatre, we now see a curtain before the next act of the heavenly play, an aurora curtain. The next act presents several bright stars in original scenes: the Chinese asterisms of The Tail (of the Azure Dragon), the Winnowing Basket and the Southern Dipper, which are seen in the modern constellations Scorpius and Sagittarius. The striking shape of Corona Borealis that has been recognised as an asterism in many cultures all over the globe, is also shown, as are some planets, the stars Vega and Deneb with adjacent areas, Altair, the Milky Way, and the characteristic W shape of Cassiopeia that has also been an asterism for many cultures on Earth. The outro presents two more scenes with a smooth and silent night sky.
Credit: Stephanie Ye Ziyi/IAU OAE

Caption: 2022年國際天文學聯合會（IAU）OAE天文攝影比賽延時天體圖案類別榮譽獎作品。 這幅延時攝影作品拍攝於2020年12月，展示了位於南半球智利的聖佩德羅-德阿塔卡馬的夜空。 在第一幅畫面中，可以看到我們所在的銀河系，以及圍繞銀河系運行的兩個衛星星系——大小麥哲倫雲。在畫面底部，可以看到明亮的恆星南門二和馬腹一（也被稱為半人馬座α星和β星），它們都位於半人馬座。在它們正上方，還可以看到北迴歸線以南可見的南十字座。它對導航非常重要，因為它的長軸指示著南天極的方向。畫面頂端，位於銀河右側的亮白色恆星是位於船底座的老人星，它是夜空中最亮的恆星之一。老人星是全天第二亮的恆星，而南門二則是第三亮的恆星。 在接下來的一些畫面中，獵戶座帶著它明亮的恆星和特有的星群——由三顆排列整齊的亮星組成的腰帶，清晰地出現在畫面中。因為這段視頻是從南半球拍攝的，所以這位來自北半球的希臘英雄似乎正在倒立。 我們還能看到木星和土星緊密相合，甚至可在它們周圍看到正在緩緩沒入地平線的明顯光帶，那就是黃道光。一些畫面中還閃爍著幾顆流星，其中一顆流星的尾跡持續時間很長，並在不斷延伸。一輪明月從安第斯山脈的火山後面升起，產生了壯觀的陰影和曙暮輝光。在最後一幅畫面中，我們看到月亮與相合的木星和土星為伴。
Credit: Robert Barsa/IAU OAE

Caption: 2022年國際天文學聯合會（IAU）OAE天文攝影比賽靜態天體圖案類別榮譽獎作品。 這張照片拍攝於2021年2月，背景是一幅天文圖像，前景是意大利西西里島著名的埃特納火山。在獵戶座區域，我們可以看到太空中的紅色氫雲。其中巨大的弓形是巴納德環，其中心是獵戶座大星雲和馬頭星雲。馬頭星雲顏色更深，位於獵戶座腰帶最南端恆星——也就是紅色星雲上方的一排白色恆星——的下方。獵戶座小星雲和獵戶座大星雲——即淺粉色的圓形和梯形結構——之間的分界線也清晰可見。最近的一個恆星形成區就位於這個星雲中，它距離我們只有一千多光年。 在照片左中部靠近邊緣處有一個紅色小結構，它是猴頭星雲，也位於獵戶座。它擁有一個年輕的星團。這團氫雲的深紅色表明，如果那裡的物質再次被壓縮，則新的恆星將來有可能在其內部形成。所有這些紅色天體在這張照片中都經過了強烈處理，因為它們在肉眼下是看不到的。 不過，這張照片還是提供了一個有趣的特徵：紅超巨星參宿四位於圖像中間，似乎就在埃特納活火山的正上方。在這座火山的山腳下有一個古老的居民點，即卡塔尼亞城。我們認為參宿四和埃特納火山都有一定的危險性——但它們誰會先爆發呢？ 我們知道埃特納火山偶爾會爆發。通常它只是小規模爆發，但每隔幾個世紀就會有一次大規模爆發。我們還知道，參宿四作為一顆巨星，將來會成為一顆超新星。天文學家稱，潛在超新星所能存在的時間很短，這意味著距離這顆恆星爆炸只有一萬年到十萬年的時間。這對天文學家來說是“很短”的，意味著地球將會經歷二到四個歲差週期（結果是撒哈拉沙漠將變綠並再次乾燥二到四次），大陸漂移將把非洲帶到更北的地方，並導致阿爾卑斯山增高，美洲的尼亞加拉瀑布將把岩石完全沖走。只有在地球上發生了這一切（以及更多的事情）之後，參宿四才會作為超新星而爆發。埃特納火山對西西里島——尤其是卡塔尼亞的人們來說要危險得多，因為距離它爆發的時間更短。
Credit: Dario Giannobile/IAU OAE

Caption: 2022 年國際天文學聯合會 OAE 天體攝影比賽第二名，類別：天體圖案的時間流逝。 天狼星是夜空中最亮的恆星，它時而升起，時而落下，時而掠過。有時還能看到獵戶座、金牛座和昴星團等星座和小行星。在第一個場景中，上述星座被半透明的金色面紗遮住。接下來的場景中，它在深藍色的夜空中升起。在其中一個場景中，一顆行星明亮地點綴著暗淡的雙魚座。 這些視頻是在地球上各種景觀和文化遺產的上空拍攝的。其中一些只是簡單地展示了沙漠中的古蹟，而另一些則展示了揮舞著樹葉的棕櫚樹。 2022年IAU OAE天文攝影大賽天體運動時間序列類別二等獎 天狼星是夜空中最亮的恆星，照片中展現了它的升起、落下及穿越天空的軌跡。有時還能看到星座和星群，包括獵戶座、金牛座和昴星團。在第一場景中，這些星座被半透明的金色薄霧籠罩。接下來的場景展示了它在深藍色夜空中升起的情景。在其中一個場景中，一顆明亮的行星點綴在微弱的雙魚座星群中。 這些視頻取景於地球上的多種自然景觀和文化遺址。一些畫面展示了沙漠中的歷史遺跡，而另一些則拍攝了帶有搖曳棕櫚樹的風景。
Credit: 阿米爾雷扎·卡姆卡爾/國際天文學聯合會教育辦公室

Caption: 2022年國際天文學聯合會（IAU）OAE天文攝影比賽靜態天體圖案類別榮譽獎作品。 這張照片於2016年3 月在印度尼西亞爪哇島的婆羅摩騰格塞梅魯國家公園拍攝，展現了銀河形成的拱橋和許多突出的星座，包括了夜空中最顯著的亮星。 在照片左下角，我們可以看到南門二和馬腹一，前者較低，後者較高，都位於的巨大的半人馬座中。可由它們的指引找到南十字座，南十字座的長軸指向南天極，而南天極大致位於地平線上，這是因為爪哇島幾乎位於赤道上。南十字座幾乎完全被雲層遮擋，照片中只能看到四顆明亮的星星。而南船座中的恆星組成的贗十字星群，在稍遠處的銀河上方也明顯可見，容易使人混淆。 真正的南十字座和贗十字星群之間的粉紅色斑點是船底座星雲，距離地球約8500光年，位於船底座，肉眼看不到。在船底座，我們還可以看到夜空中第二亮的恆星——老人星，它就在銀河和地面道路之間。 更亮的是天狼星，夜空中最亮的恆星。天狼星位於大犬座，大犬座是獵戶座的兩隻獵犬之一。獵戶座在照片的右半部分，地平線附近雲層的上方。獵戶座的腰帶上有三顆明亮的恆星，其連線左上指向天狼星，右下指向堪堪露出地平線的畢宿五。 獵戶座包含了天空中最亮的幾顆恆星，是色彩最豐富的星座，因為它擁有參宿七——銀河下方靠右的一顆藍色亮星，以及參宿四——參宿七右上方較高位置的一顆紅色亮星。在它們之間，三顆恆星組成了著名的星群——獵戶座腰帶。獵戶座大星雲就在獵戶座腰帶旁邊，這是一個恆星形成區，其明亮的中心即便用肉眼看也清晰可見，在這張照片中也是如此清晰。 在參宿四的上方，銀河的另一側，可以看到明亮的南河三，其英文名稱Procyon的字面意思是”在狗之前“。在希臘神話中，它被看作由單顆恆星組成的星群，是與獵戶座相伴的小獵犬，後來演變成了現代的小犬座。 在照片右上角，巨蟹座的蜂巢星團很容易辨認。在其下方，可以看到雙子座的北河二和北河三，它們在這張照片中並不顯眼。與之形成鮮明對比的是，御夫座的明亮白色恆星五車二，在照片右邊緣中部的雲層中閃閃發光。 在地面道路周圍可以看到一些光汙染。
Credit: Giorgia Hofer/IAU OAE

Caption: Winner in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns.   This image, taken in Slovakia in January 2022, shows regions of the Milky Way and a rich variety of constellations. The summer constellations of the northern hemisphere are very low in the sky towards the bottom-right. The bright stars of Cygnus and Lyra shine through the artificial lights at the horizon. The huge array of northern winter and autumn constellations with many bright stars are associated with diverse cultural stories. For the Lakota people in North America the belt of the Orion constellation represents the spine of a bison (“Tayamnicankh”). Orion, the Hunter of Greek mythology, is sometimes described chasing the Seven Sisters, the Pleiades. The Arabs transformed this view by considering the follower of the Pleiades only one star instead of a constellation. Aldebaran, the star in the right eye of Taurus, the Bull, comes from this interpretation, because the name Aldebaran derives from al-dabaran, The Follower. At the bottom-right, on the horizon, we can see the milky lightcone of the Zodiacal light stretching from the constellation Pisces through Aries, almost reaching the Pleiades, indicating the path of the planets and the Moon in this area. The Pleiades and the Hyades together form a gate on this path, where the heavenly bodies occasionally pass before entering the Milky Way. The planets were considered sheep in ancient Babylon and the modern constellation Orion was considered the “True Shepherd” of the Sky, with his shepherd’s tool reaching the ecliptic. In Roman tradition, the bright white star above the Pleiades and the Milky Way is called Capella, the Goat, which can be traced back to an Egyptian constellation in this area. Above the treetop in the middle-right part of the image, we see the autumn square, the Andromeda Galaxy and the W-shaped pattern of Cassiopeia. To the left of this group, in the central part of the visible Milky Way, is the constellation Perseus, with Cepheus in the dark area above Cassiopeia completing the celestial family. The Andromeda saga is a Greek story from the area that is now called Israel, and is rooted in Syrian traditions. The location of Andromeda was considered by the ancient Babylonians as the location of the goddess of sexual love, and by the Syrians as the location of the goddess of fertility. According to the saga, Andromeda was chained to a rock at the coast of Jaffa (Tel Aviv) in order to protect her land from a sea monster. The name of the hero who rescued her is Perseus, probably meaning “from Persia” (today’s Iran). Noticeable in the valley are the lights from towns. The yellow light above the horizon indicates larger cities there, which are given away by their light pollution.
Credit: Robert Barsa/IAU OAE

Caption: Winner in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns.   This black and white image taken in February 2017 in Uyuni Salt Flat of southwest Bolivia, the biggest salt flat in the world, shows one of the most recognisable constellations, Orion the hunter, and the open star cluster of the Hyades directly above the clouds at the horizon. Various cultures have different stories associated with Orion. The Aymara in this area of the world (Bolivia and Northern Chile) consider Orion’s Belt to be a Sky Bridge (chacka cilitu) or a Stairway made out of dough. This stairway is rather obvious in this picture. It appears as if the stars in the sky are scattered like grains of salt on the ground — an amazing composition. For the Aymara, who were Christianised by the Spanish conquistadores, Orion and the Stairway are connected to the November festivals of the dead ancestors and the souls. In contrast to the original Christian culture, for these people in the southern hemisphere these festivals mark the beginning of summer, not the beginning of winter. While in the north, the “ghosts” of the ancestors are represented by the foggy weather in November, the Aymara greet the ancestors with flowers. This photograph in the dry salt flat, in contrast, seems to show the unlivable loneliness where the photographer meets the souls of the deceased. The Yolnu people of Arnhem Land in Australia’s Northern Territory have a rich culturally significant story associated with Orion that carries a lesson. It tells of the three brothers of the Kingfish clan and their canoe Djulpan. Owing to their lack of patience, the brothers ate the sacred Kingfish, angering the Sun woman Walu who created a waterspout that sent them into the sky. Looking at the constellation Orion, the three stars in Orion’s belt represent the three brothers, Orion’s sword is the fishing line, and the two dimmer stars Bellatrix and Saiph form the two ends of the canoe Djulpan.
Credit: Stephanie Ye Ziyi/IAU OAE

Caption: Honourable mention in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns.   Taken in December 2016, this image shows a clear and starry sky over the Masaya Volcano National Park in Nicaragua. The constellation Orion is the most prominent pattern in this image. Orion is associated with a great hunter according to Greek culture, and is seen here right in the middle. The reddish star in the centre is Betelgeuse, the second-brightest in this constellation and one of the brightest in the night sky. Above and to the right of Betelgeuse we find Bellatrix, another bright star, forming the right shoulder of the hunter. Extending a line from Bellatrix to the right, we find a crookedly aligned group of faint stars comprising Orion’s bow. We can also easily see a group of three aligned bright stars forming the belt of the hunter, an asterism recognised by many different cultures. Just below his belt we can see the silverish glittering that was interpreted as the metal of Orion’s sword or knife by the Greco-Roman tradition. It was alternatively interpreted as a fish roasted on a campfire by some cultures in Australia. In its centre, with binoculars we can see the Small and the Great Orion Nebula, together forming a giant cloud of dust and gas where new stars are being formed. To the lower-left of the silverish compound of tiny stars and nebulae, there is a bright star called Saiph, the Arabic term for “Sword” or “Sabre” because it was considered the tip of a huge knife with a curved upper part. To the right of this, there is the bright bluish star Rigel, an Arabic term which designates it as The Foot of Orion. Orion’s Belt points up towards Aldebaran at the edge of the photograph and down towards Sirius among the branches of the trees; it is the brightest star in the night sky and is located in the constellation Canis Major. Earth’s atmosphere makes the bright Sirius twinkle in all colours. Seen from space it is pure white, but as its light travels through the air, it is scattered and distorted by the molecules. Therefore, the star appears to change colour like a diamond. A line connecting the two shoulders of Orion points to another bright star in the lower-left corner of the photograph. This is Procyon, located in the constellation Canis Minor. Procyon has been used by the ancient Babylonians to indicate the heliacal rise of Cancer (whose stars are faint, and invisible in twilight) and to predict the rising of Sirius. Thus, for a very long time in ancient history Procyon was considered a single-star asterism. Perhaps only in Roman times were more stars used to create a constellation in this area of the sky, although this constellation has never been clearly recognisable.
Credit: René Antonio Urroz Álvarez/IAU OAE

Caption: Winner in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns.   Taken in Romania in August 2012, this image shows two of the most recognisable constellations in the sky, Orion and Taurus. Orion, the Hunter, is found near the horizon. The most prominent star visible in this image is Betelgeuse, while the asterism of Orion’s belt is formed by three aligned bright stars. Just above Orion we can find Taurus, one of the constellations of the Zodiac. As the Zodiac is inherited from Babylon, The Bull of Heaven represents a mighty but dangerous creature that was defeated by King Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu. They cut the Bull in half and sacrificed the animal to the gods in order to protect their people. Taurus is also home to the star cluster Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters. Two planets are visible: Venus, the bright spot near the fence, and Jupiter, the bright spot at the top, next to the Bull’s face. Different cultures have included the stars of these constellations in their own mythology. The Romanians, for instance, after Christianisation identified four other constellations using some of the stars of Orion and others surrounding it. One such constellation is called Trisfetitele (the Three Saints), which is associated with the three stars comprising Orion's Belt, representing the Three Hierarchs Basil, Gregory and John. This same asterism is also called Three Wise Men, Kings from the East or just Three Kings — all of these names being rooted in the Christian religion. The agricultural calendar, in contrast, led farmers to define two other constellations, the Little Plough and the Sickle. Both are seen in the southern half of the Orion rectangle; the Little Plough is drawn by connecting the southern quadrilateral with Orion’s left shoulder, and the Sickle is formed by connecting Orion’s left foot (Rigel) with the belt stars, forming an arch and completing the form of a hoe. In the cultural calendar, these constellations were used to announce the harvest of wheat/grain. Finally, the fourth Romanian constellation is the Great Auger, where Orion’s belt represents the handle of the auger, and Betelgeuse is the tip, facing towards Pollux in Gemini. This constellation is associated with treasure, as Romanian peasants believe that the Auger points to the treasure when they approach the end of the world. Most of the official star names in Orion are Arabic; Mintaka (meaning “belt”) is at the waist; Alnitak (meaning “girdle”) and Alnilam (meaning “string”) are at the belt; and Rigel (meaning foot) is at the left foot. The star on the left shoulder is named Bellatrix, the Latin term for a female warrior. The star at the right leg is called Saiph, for the sword or sabre of the Arabic Orion.
Credit: Alex Conu/IAU OAE

Caption: Winner in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns.   This image, taken in April 2022, shows the sky over a plantation field around a century-old watchtower guarding a village in the province of Guangdong, China. Throughout the ages, the sky has been used as a tool for navigation and also as a calendar. By watching the apparent movement of the stars, it is possible to follow the passing of time, thereby understanding the change of the seasons which in turn helps to plan out the best timings of agricultural work. The most prominent constellations in this image are Orion and Canis Major, the Great Dog. Commonly associated with a giant hunter in Greek mythology, Orion is followed by his hound in the shape of the constellation Canis Major. In China, the seven bright stars of the constellation Orion are paradoxically called Three Stars (Shen) and this is one of the 28 Lunar Mansions. The Babylonian pre-zodiac, the so-called “Path of the Moon”, had 17 constellations and included Orion (therein named “True Shepherd of the Heavens”). This is not really surprising because, even in the system of the 88 modern constellations, the Moon sometimes stands in the constellation Orion. The modern constellation boundaries were defined in the 1920s in such a way that the area of Orion ends a half degree south of the ecliptic, in order to avoid the Sun entering it. Still, the Moon and the planets do occasionally. Therefore, Orion is part of the Zodiac (a stripe 5 to 10 degrees around the ecliptic), part of the path of the Moon and, of course, also used by many cultural calendars all over the world. Sirius, the bright star in the left half of the photograph, is the brightest star in the night sky, and has been used by many indigenous cultures to determine their calendars; the Egyptians awaited the Nile flood with Sirius’s heliacal rise, while the Romans connected its reappearance after its invisibility in daylight with the hottest summer time. In Old China, Sirius was considered a single-star asterism called The Wolf. The adjacent area was called The Market for Soldiers and the area in the southern part of Canis Major was imagined as the Bow with an Arrow. The reddish bright star in the top right corner is Betelgeuse, a red supergiant and one of the largest stars that can be seen with the naked eye. Orion’s Great Nebula below Orion’s Belt should be mentioned, but also the fainter huge red arc that is called Barnard’s Loop is clearly shown in this photograph. This galactic nebula and the circular red nebula around Orion’s not-so-bright head are both parts of star-forming regions, while the red nebula to the upper left of Orion is the Rosette Nebula in the unrecognisable constellation of Monoceros.
Credit: Likai Lin/IAU OAE

Caption: 2022 年國際天文學聯合會 OAE 天體攝影比賽“天體圖案靜態圖像”類獲獎作品。 這張拍攝於2021年12月的照片，來自埃及開羅的科塔米亞天文臺（Kottamia Astronomical Observatory），展示了北非最大望遠鏡上方的北半球冬季星空和其中的一些著名星座。 照片展示了獵戶座（位於照片中間的顯眼位置），其腰帶向上指向金牛座的畢宿五（Aldebaran），向下指向大犬座的天狼星（Sirius）。畢宿五是一顆略微發紅的恆星，我們可以看到它位於疏散星團畢星團（照片右上角）的前方，這是金牛座（公牛）臉部的象徵。而那顆明亮的白色恆星是天狼星，夜空中最亮的恆星。它的希臘名字（Seirios）的意思是 "燃燒者"，可以理解為 "最亮的"。 獵戶座在世界各地不同的文化中都有象徵意義。在古埃及宗教中，獵戶座也與一位男性神秖相關聯，即奧西里斯（Osiris）。相傳，奧西里斯被他妒忌的兄弟賽特（Seth）殺害，賽特肢解了屍體，將碎片散布各地。幸運的是，奧西里斯的姐妹兼妻子阿塞特（Aset，希臘語名：Isis）是最強大的女巫和守護母神。她收集了這些身體碎片，將它們重新組合在一起，為奧西里斯重新注入了生命。從照片底部明亮的天狼星週圍的星座圖案中可以看到阿塞特。天狼星（及鄰近區域）在埃及語中被稱為“Sopdet”（希臘語：Sothis）。天狼星在夏季的晨昏升起預示著埃及的新年。 向北看，我們可以發現一顆淡藍色的恆星。這是井宿三（Alhena），它是黃道十二宮雙子座腳下的恆星之一，而雙子座那兩顆明亮的“頭部”星星則位於照片左上方的邊緣之外。在照片的中上部，我們可以看到御夫座中的五車五（Elnath）。這顆星與希臘神話中的英雄厄里克托尼俄斯（Erichthonius）有關，據說他是四馬戰車的發明者。這顆星也被認為是金牛座（Taurus）公牛“上角”的末端。在希臘神話中，金牛座與眾神之王宙斯（Zeus）有關，宙斯曾派他去搶劫一位公主。眾所周知，這個希臘神話故事是為了將巴比倫星座納入希臘神話體系而編織的。在美索不達米亞的《吉爾伽美什史詩》（我們所知的最古老的文學作品之一，可追溯到公元三千年）中，金牛座是“天之公牛”，是一位嫉妒的女神派來的，被烏魯克國王打敗，拯救了他的人民。在天空中，金牛座包含了許多有趣的天體。
Credit: Mohamed Aboushelib/IAU OAE

Caption: Winner in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns. This image, taken in January 2022, pictures a landscape from Navarra, a province in the north of Spain with ruins from old civilizations in the foreground. Above that, we see a partially cloudy and starry sky with the most prominent stars belonging to the star pattern Orion. Composed of many bright stars with several interesting deep sky objects within its boundaries, Orion is one of the 88 officially recognised IAU constellations. It originates from Greek mythology where the hero Orion is the son of the sea god Poseidon. Orion is characterised as a giant hunter lurking just before he attacks an animal (it is unclear which animal he attacks, but, in the original Babylonian version of the Gilgamesh saga, it is the Bull of Heaven depicted as the constellation Taurus). The modern planetarium interpretation depicts him as a Roman warrior raising up his shield, but the two accompanying dogs, represented by the constellations of Canis Major and Canis Minor, are reminiscent of the Greek hunter. Located at the celestial equator, the star pattern is visible all over the world and is interpreted differently in various mythologies, for example as three fishermen at a campfire in parts of Australia, as a butterfly in some parts of Africa, and as a stairway for the souls of ancestors in parts of South America. As Spain belonged to the Roman empire, the original constellations from earlier times are not known. There are some cave paintings on the Iberian peninsula that could possibly have astronomical references. However, there is uncertainty as to whether these painted figures on rocks depict star patterns. Orion is best visible from November to January. Its most recognisable feature is the “belt”, an asterism composed of three bright, aligned stars (Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka), also recognised by different cultures. Just below this belt is the Orion Nebula, a famous and widely studied star-forming region located about 1500 light-years from Earth. The constellation's brightest stars are Rigel — a blue supergiant which is one of the brightest stars in the sky — and Betelgeuse — a massive red supergiant. The former serves as the left foot, and the latter as the right shoulder of the hunter. While Rigel is in the middle of its life, Betelgeuse is expected to explode within the next few tens of thousands of years. The Orionids, a meteor shower with typical rates of dozens of meteors per hour, whose parent body is Halley’s Comet, can be seen every year in the area of Orion, next to the border with the constellation of Gemini during the month of October.
Credit: Carlos Zudaire/IAU OAE

Caption: 獵戶座及其明亮的恆星和周圍的星座。獵戶座被金牛座、波江座、天兔座、麒麟座和雙子座環繞（從上往下順時針依次排列）。獵戶座最亮的恆星參宿四和參宿七分別位於星座的北端（圖中上部）和南端（圖中下部），中間是著名的三星 "腰帶"。 獵戶座橫跨天赤道，因此在一年中的某些時候，從地球上的任何地方都能看到它。在世界上最北極或最南極地區，可能看不到獵戶座的某些部分。獵戶座在北半球冬季和南半球夏季的晚上最為明顯。獵戶座上方的藍線標誌著黃道，即太陽在一年中劃過天空的軌跡。太陽從不經過獵戶座，但人們偶爾會在獵戶座發現太陽系的其他行星和月球。 在獵戶座腰帶的正南方，有兩個梅西葉天體M42（獵戶座星雲）和M43，用綠色方框標出。這些星雲和M78（腰帶左邊的綠色方框）是巨大的獵戶座分子雲團的一部分。它覆蓋了獵戶座的大部分區域，包括這些分子雲正在坍縮形成新星的區域。 該圖的 y 軸表示赤緯，單位為度數，以北為上，x 軸表示赤經，單位為小時，以東為左。這裡標注的恆星大小與恆星的視星等有關，視星等是衡量恆星視亮度的標準。較大的點代表較亮的恆星。希臘字母表示星座中的亮星。這些恆星按亮度排序，最亮的恆星被標記為α星，第二亮的為β星，等等，不過並不總是完全遵循這種排序。圍繞著參宿四的圓圈表示它是一顆變星。虛線是國際天文學聯合會劃定的星座邊界，綠色實線是表示星座的常用形式之一。星座邊界和連接恆星的線條都不會出現在實際天空中。
Credit: 由國際天文學聯合會天文教育辦公室根據國際天文學聯合會/《天空與望遠鏡》的原文改編

Caption: The constellation Taurus along with its bright stars and surrounding constellations. Taurus is surrounded by (going clockwise from the top) Perseus, Aries, Cetus, Eridanus, Orion, Gemini and Auriga. Taurus’s brightest star Aldebaran appears in the middle of the constellation. Taurus lies on the ecliptic (shown here as a blue line), this is the path the Sun appears to take across the sky over the course of a year. The Sun is in Taurus from mid May to late June. The other planets of the Solar System can often be found in Taurus. Taurus lies mostly north of the celestial equator with a small part in the celestial southern hemisphere. The whole constellation is visible at some point in the year to whole planet except for the Antarctic and a small region around the North Pole. Taurus is most visible in the evenings in the northern hemisphere winter and southern hemisphere summer. In the eastern part of Taurus we can find the supernova remnant M1 (commonly known as the Crab Nebula), marked here with a green square. In Taurus’s north-east find one of the sky’s most famous open stars clusters M45 (the Pleiades), marked here with a yellow circle. Many of the stars near Aldebaran (but not) Aldebaran are members of another star cluster, the Hyades. However this cluster is close to the solar system so is too dispersed on the sky to have a Messier object designation like the Pleiades has. The y-axis of this diagram is in degrees of declination with north as up and the x-axis is in hours of right ascension with east to the left. The sizes of the stars marked here relate to the star's apparent magnitude, a measure of its apparent brightness. The larger dots represent brighter stars. The Greek letters mark the brightest stars in the constellation. These are ranked by brightness with the brightest star being labeled alpha, the second brightest beta, etc., although this ordering is not always followed exactly. The dotted boundary lines mark the IAU's boundaries of the constellations and the solid green lines mark one of the common forms used to represent the figures of the constellations. Neither the constellation boundaries, nor the lines joining the stars appear on the sky.
Credit: Adapted by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education from the original by IAU/Sky & Telescope

Caption: The constellation Eridanus with its bright stars and surrounding constellations. Eridanus is surrounded by (going clockwise from the top): Taurus, Cetus, Fornax, Phoenix, Tucana, Hydrus, Horologium, Caelum, Lepus and Orion. Eridanus is a large constellation that spans a wide range in declination. A small portion of the constellation is in the northern hemisphere with the southern-most point lying at a declination of almost -60°. As it spans the celestial equator, parts of the constellation are visible to the whole Earth at some point in the year. The whole constellation can be observed from northern and southern equatorial regions, southern temperate regions and most of Antarctica. Eridanus is best viewed in the evening in the northern hemisphere winter and southern hemisphere summer. The y-axis of this diagram is in degrees of declination with north as up and the x-axis is in hours of right ascension with east to the left. The sizes of the stars marked here relate to the star's apparent magnitude, a measure of its apparent brightness. The larger dots represent brighter stars. The Greek letters mark the brightest stars in the constellation. These are ranked by brightness with the brightest star being labeled alpha, the second brightest beta, etc., although this ordering is not always followed exactly. The dotted boundary lines mark the IAU's boundaries of the constellations and the solid green lines mark one of the common forms used to represent the figures of the constellations. Neither the constellation boundaries, nor the lines joining the stars appear on the sky.
Credit: Adapted by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education from the original by the IAU and Sky & Telescope