Delta Orionis
Encyclopedia
Delta Orionis traditionally known as Mintaka (from منطقة manţaqah, which means "area or region" in Arabic
), is a star
some 900 light years distant in the constellation
Orion
. Together with Zeta Orionis (Alnitak) and Epsilon Orionis
(Alnilam), the three stars make up the belt of Orion, known by many names across many ancient cultures. When Orion is close to the meridian
, Mintaka is the right-most of the belt's stars as seen by an observer in the Northern Hemisphere
facing south
.
at the western end of Orion's belt, with a magnitude
7 star about 52" away from the main component and an even fainter star in between. The main component itself is also double, consisting of a class B giant and a smaller but hotter class O. The stars orbit each other every 5.73 days. These two stars are both about 90,000 times as luminous
as the Sun
with a mass of some 20 solar mass
es.
In 1904, Johannes Hartmann
discovered that interstellar space contains a thin gas, by using Mintaka as a background source (see Interstellar medium
).
they were also known as The Weighing Beam. The belt was also the Three Stars
mansion , one of the Twenty-eight mansions
of the Chinese constellation
s. It is one of the western mansions of the White Tiger.
In pre-Christian Scandinavia
, the belt was known as Frigg
's Distaff
(Friggerock) or Freyja's distaff. Similarly Jacob's Staff and Peter's Staff were European biblical
derived terms, as were the Three Magi, or the Three Kings. Väinämöinen
's Scythe (Kalevala
) and Kalevan Sword are terms from Finnish mythology
.
The Seri people of northwestern Mexico call the three belt stars Hapj (a name denoting a hunter) which consists of three stars: Hap (mule deer), Haamoja (pronghorn), and Mojet (bighorn sheep). Hap is in the middle and has been shot by the hunter; its blood has dripped onto Tiburón Island
.
In Latin America, this asterism is known as Las Tres Marías or As Três Marias which stand for The Three Marys in Spanish and Portuguese respectively.
In Christian astromythology Mintaka is also regarded as the third of the three Magi on their way to Bethlehem
(Sirius
): Caspar, Melchior
, Balthasar.
was a United States Navy
Crater class cargo ship
named after the star.
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
), is a star
Star
A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
some 900 light years distant in the constellation
Constellation
In modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms, patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky....
Orion
Orion (constellation)
Orion, often referred to as The Hunter, is a prominent constellation located on the celestial equator and visible throughout the world. It is one of the most conspicuous, and most recognizable constellations in the night sky...
. Together with Zeta Orionis (Alnitak) and Epsilon Orionis
Epsilon Orionis
Alnilam is a large blue supergiant star in the constellation of Orion. Its Flamsteed designation is 46 Orionis....
(Alnilam), the three stars make up the belt of Orion, known by many names across many ancient cultures. When Orion is close to the meridian
Meridian (astronomy)
This article is about the astronomical concept. For other uses of the word, see Meridian.In the sky, a meridian is an imaginary great circle on the celestial sphere. It passes through the north point on the horizon, through the celestial pole, up to the zenith, through the south point on the...
, Mintaka is the right-most of the belt's stars as seen by an observer in the Northern Hemisphere
Northern Hemisphere
The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of its equator—the word hemisphere literally means “half sphere”. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator...
facing south
South
South is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.South is one of the four cardinal directions or compass points. It is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to east and west.By convention, the bottom side of a map is south....
.
System
Mintaka is actually a multiple starBinary star
A binary star is a star system consisting of two stars orbiting around their common center of mass. The brighter star is called the primary and the other is its companion star, comes, or secondary...
at the western end of Orion's belt, with a magnitude
Apparent magnitude
The apparent magnitude of a celestial body is a measure of its brightness as seen by an observer on Earth, adjusted to the value it would have in the absence of the atmosphere...
7 star about 52" away from the main component and an even fainter star in between. The main component itself is also double, consisting of a class B giant and a smaller but hotter class O. The stars orbit each other every 5.73 days. These two stars are both about 90,000 times as luminous
Luminosity
Luminosity is a measurement of brightness.-In photometry and color imaging:In photometry, luminosity is sometimes incorrectly used to refer to luminance, which is the density of luminous intensity in a given direction. The SI unit for luminance is candela per square metre.The luminosity function...
as the Sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
with a mass of some 20 solar mass
Solar mass
The solar mass , , is a standard unit of mass in astronomy, used to indicate the masses of other stars and galaxies...
es.
In 1904, Johannes Hartmann
Johannes Franz Hartmann
Johannes Franz Hartmann was a German physicist and astronomer. In 1904, while studying the spectroscopy of Delta Orionis he noticed that most of the spectrum had a shift, except the calcium lines, which he interpreted as indicating the presence of interstellar medium-External links:*...
discovered that interstellar space contains a thin gas, by using Mintaka as a background source (see Interstellar medium
Interstellar medium
In astronomy, the interstellar medium is the matter that exists in the space between the star systems in a galaxy. This matter includes gas in ionic, atomic, and molecular form, dust, and cosmic rays. It fills interstellar space and blends smoothly into the surrounding intergalactic space...
).
Etymology and cultural significance
Mintaka was also seen by astrologers as a portent of good fortune.Orion's belt
The three belt stars were collectively known by many names in many cultures. Arabic terms include Al Nijād 'the Belt', Al Nasak 'the Line', Al Alkāt 'the Golden Grains or Nuts' and, in modern Arabic, Al Mīzān al H•akk 'the Accurate Scale Beam'. In Chinese mythologyChinese mythology
Chinese mythology is a collection of cultural history, folktales, and religions that have been passed down in oral or written tradition. These include creation myths and legends and myths concerning the founding of Chinese culture and the Chinese state...
they were also known as The Weighing Beam. The belt was also the Three Stars
Three Stars (Chinese constellation)
The Three Stars mansion is one of the twenty-eight mansions of the Chinese constellations. It is one of the western mansions of the White Tiger. This collection of seven bright stars is visible during winter in the Northern Hemisphere .- Asterisms :...
mansion , one of the Twenty-eight mansions
Twenty-eight mansions
The Twenty-eight Mansions , ', ' or ' are part of the Chinese constellations system. They can be considered as the equivalent to the zodiacal constellations in the Western astronomy, though the Twenty-eight Mansions reflect the movement of the Moon in a lunar month rather than the Sun in a solar year...
of the Chinese constellation
Chinese constellation
Chinese constellations are the way the ancient Chinese grouped the stars. They are very different from the modern IAU recognized constellations. This is because the IAU was based on Greco-Roman astronomy instead of Chinese astronomy....
s. It is one of the western mansions of the White Tiger.
In pre-Christian Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
, the belt was known as Frigg
Frigg
Frigg is a major goddess in Norse paganism, a subset of Germanic paganism. She is said to be the wife of Odin, and is the "foremost among the goddesses" and the queen of Asgard. Frigg appears primarily in Norse mythological stories as a wife and a mother. She is also described as having the power...
's Distaff
Distaff
As a noun, a distaff is a tool used in spinning. It is designed to hold the unspun fibers, keeping them untangled and thus easing the spinning process. It is most commonly used to hold flax, and sometimes wool, but can be used for any type of fiber. Fiber is wrapped around the distaff, and tied in...
(Friggerock) or Freyja's distaff. Similarly Jacob's Staff and Peter's Staff were European biblical
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
derived terms, as were the Three Magi, or the Three Kings. Väinämöinen
Väinämöinen
Väinämöinen is the central character in the Finnish folklore and the main character in the national epic Kalevala. His name comes from the Finnish word väinämö, meaning minstrel. Originally a Finnish god, he was described as an old and wise man, and he possessed a potent, magical...
's Scythe (Kalevala
Kalevala
The Kalevala is a 19th century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Finnish and Karelian oral folklore and mythology.It is regarded as the national epic of Finland and is one of the most significant works of Finnish literature...
) and Kalevan Sword are terms from Finnish mythology
Finnish mythology
Finnish mythology is the mythology that went with Finnish paganism which was practised by the Finnish people prior to Christianisation. It has many features shared with fellow Finnic Estonian mythology and its non-Finnic neighbours, the Balts and the Scandinavians...
.
The Seri people of northwestern Mexico call the three belt stars Hapj (a name denoting a hunter) which consists of three stars: Hap (mule deer), Haamoja (pronghorn), and Mojet (bighorn sheep). Hap is in the middle and has been shot by the hunter; its blood has dripped onto Tiburón Island
Tiburón Island
Tiburón Island is both the largest island in the Gulf of California and the largest island in Mexico, with an area of . It was made a nature reserve in 1963 by President Adolfo López Mateos. Tiburón is Spanish for shark. The etymology of the Seri name is unknown...
.
In Latin America, this asterism is known as Las Tres Marías or As Três Marias which stand for The Three Marys in Spanish and Portuguese respectively.
In Christian astromythology Mintaka is also regarded as the third of the three Magi on their way to Bethlehem
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank of the Jordan River, near Israel and approximately south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism...
(Sirius
Sirius
Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. With a visual apparent magnitude of −1.46, it is almost twice as bright as Canopus, the next brightest star. The name "Sirius" is derived from the Ancient Greek: Seirios . The star has the Bayer designation Alpha Canis Majoris...
): Caspar, Melchior
Melchior
Melchior is the name given in later legend to one of the Magi appearing in the Gospel of Matthew. It may also refer to:-First name:* Melchior Anderegg , Swiss mountain guide.* Melchior Berri , Swiss architect.* Melchior Broederlam Melchior is the name given in later legend to one of the Magi...
, Balthasar.
Namesakes
USS Mintaka (AK-94)USS Mintaka (AK-94)
USS Mintaka was a commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II, named after Mintaka, the star in constellation Orion...
was a United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
Crater class cargo ship
Crater class cargo ship
Crater-class cargo ship is a category of freighter that was constructed for use by the United States Navy during World War II under Maritime Commission EC2-S-C1 type....
named after the star.
See also
- Delta Orionis in fiction
External links
- Mintaka
- Image of Mintaka from APODAstronomy Picture of the DayAstronomy Picture of the Day is a website provided by NASA and Michigan Technological University . According to the website, "Each day a different image or photograph of our universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer."The photograph is not necessarily...