Question

I have some high resolution images of the sky around the constellation of Orion. I can determine the right ascension and declination of any object on the image. Which star and galaxy catalogues should I use to identify the objects?

Answer 1

Orion's seven brightest stars form a distinctive hourglass-shaped asterism, or pattern, in the night sky. Four stars—Rigel, Betelgeuse, Bellatrix and Saiph—form a large roughly rectangular shape, in the centre of which lie the three stars of Orion's Belt—Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka.