Who else likes to gaze at the Constellation Orion?

[Deja Q]

Look at the size of his sword! :D

[EstimatedProphet]

1. Orion has always been one of my favorites

[BlueStorm]

2. I do and the Pleiades have a significant allure to me. n/t

[Aristus]

3. That's red-giant Betelgeuse at upper left and blue-giant Vega at lower right.

Yeah, I like looking at constellation Orion. B-)

[VelmaD]

9. Smart is...

sexy. ;)

I like Orion...it was the first constellation I learned to spot as a kid. I still look up for him if I'm walking around outside at night.

[Aristus]

10. Yeah, Orion will always be my favorite. He's so easy to spot.

Even after landing a 3.8 in an astronomy course, I still like constellations to be easily visible and identifiable.

[VelmaD]

14. When I lived in Lubbock...

I loved to get just outside of town, out where there were no lights and that big big sky...and just lay on the hood of the car and look up at the stars.

Did I ever tell you I saw a UFO in Lubbock one night...while I was looking up to spot Orion while walking to my dorm.

[Aristus]

16. No, you didn't tell me. That's cool! A UFO.

What did it look like?

[VelmaD]

17. Well...

it basically looked like a triangle of running lights. My ex and I could hear it going over and it was hauling serious ass. There were some stationary lights on it (mostly red adn blue) but what I really remember were the white lights running around the edges. We were looking up at it and all of a sudden it seemed to head straight up...really really high.

Then the really weird part happened...off behind my dorm there was what looked like a HUGE pattern of red running lights in a big triangle. It went around for a couple of seconds and then there was the whoooooshing noise and it was gone...but we could still see whatever it was that had gone overhead way up high in the sky.

We figured it was one of the experimental planes they fly out in the southwest. :shrug: But it did lead to an interesting night discussing who we should report it to since they had closed Project Blue Book. I ended up calling my mom. :) Then we talked into the wee hours about whether if aliens came and offered us a ride off of this rock...would we go. I would. The ex wouldn't. That should have told me more than it did at the time.

The next morning we were watching cartoons in the dorm tv lounge and told the story to another student. He wrote the college paper and gave out his TA office address if anyone else had seen it and wanted to contact him. He got one response from someone claiming to be an alien but that was it.

[bmbmd]

27. I saw a triangular aircraft

in Lubbock Texas in 2001. Two o'clock in the morning, went from northeast horizon to southwest horizon in seconds. No sound, low altitude-right over my head. Black on black with a few soft white lights. Holloman AFB, I expect.

[VelmaD]

31. Mine would have been sometime in...

late 1992 or early 1993...it was during my last academic year at Texas Tech. Holloman AFB was our first guess too.

[VenusRising]

29. Nothing like star gazing under the big sky of Texas.

I miss that. :(

[pokerfan]

11. Vega?

You mean Rigel. Vega is in Lyra.

Yeah, it's one of my favorites, too.

[Aristus]

12. You're right. My bad. Of course it's Rigel.

:blush:

I was thinking of something else when I wrote the first post. I was thinking how much I like pointing out the North Star to people. I like to tease them by saying it won't always be the North Star; someday Vega will be. They usually ask: "When will that be?"

I reply: "Oh in 26,000 years or so." B-)

[pokerfan]

13. 14,000 years

but I probably won't be around to see it. Thakes about 26,000 years to complete an entire precession.

I love the winter sky. It's just a pain in the behind to set up my telescope when it's sub freezing.

[Cannikin]

21. Dont forget about the Orion nebula! The little pink spot

[sakabatou]

4. You think he's compensating for something?

:evilgrin:

[SPKrazy]

5. I Think His Sword

has been enhanced somehow ;)

[Deja Q]

7. Hmmm, Cialis: the Celestial edition?

:rofl:

[SPKrazy]

8. No Doubt

maybe even one of those pump things
:rofl:

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

6. Sometimes a constellation really IS just a collection of stars, Hypno...

:rofl: having said that, it was easily my favorite as a kid because it was the easiest for me to spot.

[Lex]

15. I love to check the night sky for Orion in the winter.

I do it constantly. Unloading the car after the grocery store at night, leaving the office after working late, that sort of thing. Always glancing up for Orion if the sky is clear.


____________________

[sammythecat]

18. Me too! For some reason it has always stood out

for me on cold, clear, winter nights. I always at least glance at it.

[opiate69]

19. I do! Ian Anderson apparently does too..

Orion

Orion, won't you give me your star sign
Orion, get up on the sky-line
I'm high on my hill and I feel fine
Orion, let's sip the heaven's heady wine

Orion, light your lights:
come guard the open spaces
from the black horizon to the pillow where I lie.
Your faithful dog shines brighter than its lord and master
Your jewelled sword twinkles as the world rolls by.
So come up singing above the cloudy cover
Stare through at people who toss fitful in their sleep.
I know you're watching as the old gent by the station
scuffs his toes on old fag packets lying in the street
And silver shadows flick across the closing bistro.
Sweet waiters link their arms and patter down the street,
their words lost blowing on cold winds in darkest Chelsea.
Prime years fly fading with each young heart's beat

Orion, won't you make me a star sign
Orion, get up on the sky-line
I'm high on your love and I feel fine
Orion, let's sip the heaven's heady wine

And young girls shiver as they wait by lonely bus-stops
after sad parties: no-one to take them home
to greasy bed-sitters and make a late-night play
for lost virginity a thousand miles away.

[Der Blaue Engel]

20. I think my cat may BE the constellation Orion

[cwydro]

22. I run in the dark in the morning (which I hate)

and Orion is always right there with me. I like that.

[Whoa_Nelly]

23. Love Orion, Always have. And Taurus is right there...my personal constellation

[Ms_Dem_Meanor]

26. I try to look for mine... Libra

or this one

[ashling]

24. Orion is da man!

When I was a little kid I could never find the big dipper, but I could always find Orion

[Orsino]

25. It's not polite to stare...

...but it is certainly tempting.

[Ms_Dem_Meanor]

28. Here's a better view of that sword for you:

Now that's a sword! :D

[Deja Q]

33. Dayum!!! But I've got to wonder, what's the shield for? What's he protecting himself from?

Especially with that smile on his face, he must be one heck of a tease... :evilfrown:

[Blue_In_AK]

30. Me. That middle star on Orion's belt

was the "wishing star" for my husband and me when we were little teenybopper sweethearts back in 1963.

[swimboy]

32. I like watching his dog too.

I'm sirius!

[RushIsRot]

34. When I was growing up, I did not know Orion from

Adam's housecat. I HAD seen the portion that makes up the belt and sword many times and it looked to me like another dipper-shaped constellation. I wondered if this was the one they called the "little dipper." I did not learn to add in the remaining stars until late in life. I had no idea that constellations were such large groupings. One of life's little learning experiences.

[havocmom]

35. In my darkest times, I would sleep outside and, in my mind,

create songs about Dancing With Orion. He is a friend who got me through many a very lonely and hopeless night.

Now, I go out and ask how he is doing. And thank him for getting me through those bad times. He is my guardian angel of sorts.

Got to see the Orion Nebula through the BIG scope on the campus of University of Arizona. That was a trip! My dear friend Orion is bea-U-ti-ful in full color!

[InvisibleTouch]

36. I use Orion as a pointer to find Sirius.

The Dog Star. Much more personally significant to me. :)