I.

Graph

Stars of the Orion Constellati on

2.5
2.25

2
1.74 1.7
Apparent Magnitude

1.5

0.5 0.42

0.12
0
600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400
Distance from Earth in Light Years

Legend:
Betelgeuse Rigel Mintaka Alnitak Alnilam

II. Representation
(x, y)
Betelgeuse: (642.5, 0.45) LOCAL MAX Alnitak: (1262, 1.74) NEITHER
Rigel: (864.3, 0.12) ABSOLUTE MIN Alnilam: (1344, 1.7) LOCAL MIN
Mintaka: (1239, 2.25) ABSOLUTE MAX

III. Explanation
The graph talks about the different stars located in the Orion Constellation. The stars we’ve chosen
were Betelgeuse, Rigel, Mintaka, Alnitak, and Alnilam. The graph formed above shows the distance of
the star away from Earth in light years (x-axis) and shows the apparent magnitude, the perceived
brightness of the star as seen by people on Earth, of the star (y-axis). The graph tries to correlate how
these two variables relate to each star in the Orion Constellation. It is important to take note that these
stars’ distance from Earth is arranged in increasing order. It is also important to take note that the higher
the apparent magnitude is, the dimmer the brightness that the star shows as seen from the human eye.
This means that it is inversely related.

The first star plotted in the graph is Betelgeuse. It is seen as Orion’s right shoulder. It is the second
brightest star in constellation. It is around 642.5 light years away from Earth and its apparent magnitude is
around 0.45. This means that this is one of the brightest stars as compared to some of the others in the
constellation because the lower the apparent magnitude, the brighter it looks from the human perspective.
Also, added with the fact that Betelgeuse is one of the closest to the Earth as compared to the other stars
in the graph, this contributes to why this star also looks bright in the night sky. This is the reason why in
the graph it is shown to be a local maximum since its y value is somewhere in between, not too high and
not too low. It is just at the upper-left of the next star, Rigel. This next star is further from Earth (x value
increases), but its apparent magnitude decreases (y value decreases). This is why the slope from
Betelgeuse to Rigel is slanting downwards.

The second star is Rigel. It forms Orion’s left knee. This is the brightest star in the constellation. It is
around 864.3 light years away from Earth and its apparent magnitude is 0.12. Since Rigel is one of the
closest stars and its apparent magnitude is the lowest among the rest, we can clearly see that this star is
indeed the most notable star in the constellation. It is near to the Earth and it is super bright. Since the
depiction of the apparent magnitude is that the lower values mean brighter stars, in addition to the fact
that this is the brightest star in Orion (lowest apparent magnitude), it is seen that it is the absolute
minimum in the graph since its y value is the lowest. The next star, Mintaka, has a larger x value and a
larger y value, meaning that the slope from Rigel to Mintaka slants upwards.

The third star shown is Mintaka. Together with Alnitak and Alnilam, it forms the iconic Orion’s
belt. Mintaka is 1239 light years away, and its apparent magnitude is 2.25. In the graph, it is seen that it is
the third nearest star among the rest. However, even with that factor, its apparent magnitude is the
highest. This means that this is the dimmest star shown in the graph. Since the apparent magnitude
(brightness) is on the y-axis, the y value of Mintaka is the highest. This is why it is the absolute
maximum. The next star, Alnitak, has a larger x value, but it has a smaller y value. This means that the
slope from Mintaka to Alnitak is slanting downwards.

The fourth star is Alnitak. This star is also seen in Orion’s belt. It is 1262 light years away from
Earth and its apparent magnitude is 1.74. This star is also pretty far and not that bright as seen by its x and
y values. It’s somewhere between Mintaka and Alnilam. With this, it we aren’t particularly sure if this is a
maximum or minimum. It can be make clearer if we were given a function of the graph, but in this case
we are not provided with one nor we made one in the first place. With this, this is considered a point in
the function which is neither a maximum nor minimum. The next star, Alnilam, has a larger x value, but it
has a lower y value, meaning the slope still continues to slant downwards from Alnitak to Alnilam.

The fifth star is Alnilam. This is the third star on Orion’s belt. It is 1344 light years away from Earth
and its apparent magnitude is 1.7. This star is depicted as the furthest star in the graph. Its apparent
magnitude is also high, meaning that it is not that bright. However, since the slope is going down from
Mintaka, we can say that this is a local minimum.
AstroPixels. (n.d.). Betelgeuse. Retrieved from http://astropixels.com/stars/Betelgeuse-01.html

Zimmermann, K. A. (2017, November 08). Orion Constellation: Facts About the Hunter. Retrieved from
https://www.space.com/16659-constellation-orion.html