Orion: a guide to the winter hunter from the UK
Last updated 4 November 2026
Orion can be seen from the UK in the evening from about November to March, and is best placed high in the south in December, January and February. Look for three bright stars in a short, straight row, Orion's Belt, with orange Betelgeuse above them and blue-white Rigel below. It is one of the few constellations that is easy to recognise even from a light-polluted town.
When it is up
| Months | Where Orion is |
|---|---|
| Late October and November | Rising in the east late in the evening, lying on its side |
| December to February | High in the south in the mid-evening, upright: the best time |
| March and April | Sinking into the south-west and west soon after dark |
| May to July | Too close to the Sun to see |
| August and September | Back in the east before dawn, for early risers |
Because Orion straddles the celestial equator, it can be seen from almost everywhere on Earth. From Australia and New Zealand it appears upside down compared with the view from Britain.
Finding it
On a clear winter evening, face south and look about a third of the way up the sky for three similarly bright stars, close together in a straight line: the Belt. Four brighter stars around them make a large, roughly rectangular shape, the hunter's shoulders and knees. Below the Belt hangs a short, fainter line of stars, the Sword.
The main stars
| Star | Where in Orion | Colour | Magnitude | Distance (light years) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rigel | Right knee (bottom right, seen from the UK) | Blue-white | 0.13 | About 860 |
| Betelgeuse | Left shoulder (top left) | Orange-red | About 0.5, variable | Roughly 550–650 |
| Bellatrix | Right shoulder (top right) | Blue-white | About 1.6 | About 250 |
| Saiph | Left knee (bottom left) | Blue-white | About 2.1 | Roughly 650 |
Distances to these luminous, far-off stars carry real uncertainty, so different books quote different figures.
Betelgeuse is a red supergiant near the end of its life, so large that in place of the Sun it would swallow the orbits of the inner planets. It varies in brightness, and in late 2019 and early 2020 it faded sharply, an episode nicknamed the Great Dimming, before recovering. It is expected to explode as a supernova one day, but almost certainly not for a very long time by human standards.
Rigel is a blue supergiant, hot and enormously luminous. Betelgeuse carries the label "alpha", normally given to a constellation's brightest star, yet Rigel is usually the brighter of the two. Orange Betelgeuse against blue-white Rigel is one of the best demonstrations of star colours in the sky.
The Belt
From left to right as seen from the UK, the Belt stars are Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka. All three are hot blue supergiants or giants, far more distant than they look, around a thousand light years or more. Around the world they have been seen as three kings, three sisters, a set of scales and much else.
The Orion Nebula
Look at the middle "star" of the Sword. Even with the naked eye on a dark night it looks slightly fuzzy, and binoculars show a glowing, misty patch. This is the Orion Nebula (Messier 42), a huge cloud of gas and dust where new stars are being born, roughly 1,300 to 1,350 light years away. It is the brightest nebula visible from the UK and the nearest large star-forming region to Earth. A small telescope shows four young stars at its heart, the Trapezium, which light up the gas around them.
Orion is one of the constellations we name stars in. Because anyone can find the Belt, it makes a named star easy to point towards. A star named in Orion is a real, catalogued star with its own coordinates; at magnitude 6.5 or fainter it takes binoculars or a telescope to see, and the coordinates sheet charts it among Orion's bright stars so you can point to exactly where it is. See naming a star for Christmas and how to find a named star.
Star-hopping from the Belt
- Down and to the left: follow the Belt about seven or eight Belt-lengths to Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky.
- Up and to the right: follow it the other way to orange Aldebaran in Taurus, then on to the Pleiades.
- From Rigel through Betelgeuse: carry the line upwards to Castor and Pollux in Gemini.
- Left of Betelgeuse: the bright star roughly level with it is Procyon, in Canis Minor.
Join Sirius, Procyon, Pollux, Capella, Aldebaran and Rigel and you have the Winter Hexagon. Our winter constellations guide covers Orion's neighbours.
The Orionids
Every October the Orionid meteor shower appears to stream from near Orion's raised club, close to Betelgeuse. The meteors are dust shed by Halley's Comet. It is a modest shower, and in 2027 its peak around 22 October meets a last-quarter Moon; see our 2027 meteor shower calendar.
Common questions
What time of year can you see Orion in the UK?
Orion is an evening constellation from the UK from about November to March, best placed high in the south in December, January and February. It is lost in the Sun's glare from around May to July and returns to the pre-dawn sky in late summer.
What are the three stars in a row in Orion?
Orion's Belt: Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka. They are hot, very luminous stars, far more distant than most of the bright stars around them.
Can you see the Orion Nebula without a telescope?
Yes. From a reasonably dark site it shows to the naked eye as a slightly fuzzy star in the middle of Orion's Sword, below the Belt. Binoculars show it clearly as a glowing, misty patch.
Is Betelgeuse going to explode?
Betelgeuse is a red supergiant near the end of its life and is expected to become a supernova eventually, but astronomers do not expect it any time soon on a human timescale. Its fading in 2019 and 2020 was linked to dust and changes in its outer layers, not an imminent explosion.
Can I name a star in Orion?
Yes. Orion is one of the twelve constellations The Star Naming Co. names stars in. The star is a real, catalogued star, magnitude 6.5 or fainter, so it needs binoculars or a telescope to see; the name is symbolic, because only the International Astronomical Union assigns official star names and it does not sell them.