All this week, we’ll be looking at something a little different for the Heritage Journal as we dabble into the worlds of archaeo-astronomy, what some would call ‘bad (or false) archaeology’, and some downright odd alien conspiracy theories! Please bear with us…

The constellation of Orion is one of the most prominent and recognisable constellations in the night sky. Its location on the celestial equator allows it to be seen all over the planet.

As such, it may well have been of importance to many ancient cultures as alignment with the position of the stars is said to be marked/mirrored by many ancient monuments.

The most outstanding feature of the constellation is the three stars of “Orion’s Belt”. From left to right these are:

Alnitak
a triple star system that is situated in the eastern end of Orion’s belt. The star is 1.260 light-years away from Earth.
Alnilam
a supergiant at around 2.000 light-years away from Earth, located in the middle of the belt.
Mintaka
a multiple star system at around 1.200 light-years away from Earth. It is 190.000 times more luminous than the Sun. It is located at the western end of Orion’s belt.

Throughout this week we’ll be taking a brief look at some of the ancient sites with connections to Orion to see if there is any ‘ground truth’ in the stories. Stay tuned…