Orion's Belt

[Davidbw1]

Are the three stars in orion’s belt actually in a straight line or are they just (more or less) coplanar with earth?

[bibliophage]

From http://www.glyphweb.com/esky/default.htm?http://www.glyphweb.com/esky/constellations/orionsbelt.html

The linear alignment of the Belt is a line-of-sight effect that conceals somewhat the true relations of the stars making it up. In fact, the stars at either end of the Belt, Alnitak and Mintaka, are the closest together in space: Alnitak is a little over 800 light years from Earth, and Mintaka a hundred light years farther away. The central star, Alnilam, is much more distant than either of these, lying on the edge of the Orion Molecular Cloud more than 1,300 light years from the Solar System.

Click on the link to see a diagram showing the effect.

[johncole]

These three stars are not quite in a straight line, even to the naked eye.

According to one source they are all about the same distance from Earth.

All three are at the same distance from us and, with Rigel, Saiph, and Meissa, probably formed at about the same time some ten million years ago from the molecular clouds astronomers have found in Orion.

Another source contradicts these figures.

Alnitak and Mintaka are a little over 800 light years from Earth, and Mintaka a hundred light years farther away.

The second source is the same one given by bibliophage, good graphics.

[johncole]

Slow typing and a misquote all in one post. Sorry.

[drewbert]

Well, on the grand scale of things, a hundred light years difference isn’t all that much, considering that there are some visible stars less than 10 light years away and some that are thousands of light years away. So it doesn’t seem like much of a controdiction to me…