A strange thing happened to Orion last week

[floppygoose]

I had to travel to Trento, in northern Italy for a couple of days last week with work. After spending about 12 hours in a factory, followed by a bite to eat in the hotel, I decided to go for a walk for a bit of fresh air, a stretch of the legs, and clear my head. Being unfamiliar with the surroundings I decided to wrap up warm, as snow was on the ground, and walk into the small village nearby. Although it was cloudy, I could still occasionally get glimpses of recognisable objects, with the moon and Jupiter relatively close to Orion, and this was giving me some sense of direction as I was walking. Every now and then I would get a glimpse of Sirius, Betelgeuse, Aldebaran in Taurus etc., At one point, with a strategically placed gap in the clouds, even caught sight of M45. On my return to the hotel I took another look in the direction of Orion and was gob-smacked! Rigel had turned into a red-giant! Kept me bewildered for a good 30 seconds until I realized that I was looking at a red light on top of the Dolomites mountain range some miles away, which had almost 'eclipsed' the position of Rigel.

Back home now in more familiar territory, but still felt that I needed to double-check last night that everything was ok. I put it down to being over-tired.

Phil

[stevebb]

lol I love it ... now are going to tell me that absolutely no alcohol was involved at this point ?

I could imagine the scene though - brilliant  

Steve

[Kropster]

I thought it was just MPs that got 'over-tired' or 'tired and emotional'!

Perhaps astronomers just feel a bit 'nebulous'?

[floppygoose]

lol I love it ... now are going to tell me that absolutely no alcohol was involved at this point ?

I could imagine the scene though - brilliant  

Steve

Could have been a couple of beers with dinner, but that's all - honest officer!