RE: The Orion Constellation

Hi everyone! I'm a first-time poster. Thought I'd put in a little info about stars and travelling through the galaxy, as I know a little something about it. I'll put it behind a cut because it will be a little long-winded, as there is some methodology (not much) to go through, facts to point out and conclusions to draw. The questions I have attempted (and I think, succeeded) to answer are:

* How far from Earth are they, given the configuration of the stars in Orion?

* From which direction are the Colonial refugees travelling to Earth?

* Is Sol, and therefore Earth, somewhere in the background?

I am assuming that the inclusion of such an easily recognisable constellation in the show is not an over-sight of the effects / graphics teams (who ever is responsible) but is a deliberate indication of where the fleet - and the Cylons - are in the galaxy. I am also assuming that some member of the crew has done their homework and has considered the same things I have when performing this investigation.

1. BRIEF METHODOLOGY

To begin with, I have used a great piece of software called Celestia, which gave me a rudimentary star map to work from. If you haven't got this software I recommend you get it if you are fans of space-based sci-fi shows.

Download Celestia 1.5.0 here.

In my Astronomy Laboratory I have used photographic plates of astronomical objects to determine various things. Angular separation between stars is one example. Although on plates there are two different scales (one vertical and one horizontal) for this exercise I simply assumed that the pixels on my screen and the footage from BSG were perfectly square: that is, they have the same scale in both directions. It was then just a matter of measuring the separation between the stars in Orion on the BSG footage in order to get an indication of how Orion needed to be configured in Celestia.

2. FACTS

Perspective is very important. Many of the stars in Orion are very far away from us. However, Bellatrix (the top right or 'shoulder' star) is not so far from Earth in comparison to the others of Orion. The further from Earth one travels, the more the closest stars will seem to move. The effect of perspective is that nearer stars will appear to converge to a 'vanishing point' much more quickly than the more distant stars. In effect, this means Bellatrix migrates 'downwards' (in the image) towards the stars of Orion's belt much more quickly than any of the other 'apex' stars (Betelgeuse, Rigel and Saiph). Because the stars of Orion are not all an identical distance from Earth, as one travels away from the constellation, the shape will both shrink in size AND become distorted.

Another point to note is that in order for these stars to retain the coherence as the familiar Orion, one would need to be approaching Earth in such a direction as to keep the stars in their correct places. From this, drawing an imaginary line through Earth towards Orion and looking back along it will give us an indication of the direction from which the fleets are approaching the Solar System.

3. CONCLUSIONS

Keeping all these points in mind, and the assumption this is a deliberate inclusion in the show to indicate the fleets' proximity to Earth, I have formed the following conclusions:

* The Colonial and Cylon fleets must be within 20 light years of the Solar System. Beyond that, the shape of Orion (particularly due to the troublesome Bellatrix) becomes too distorted to match what is shown in the episode.

* The Colonial and Cyclon fleets are travelling towards the Solar System from the direction of the constellation of Ophiuchus! For those of you in the know, Ophiuchus is the thirteenth sign of the Zodiac. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, here is its Wikipedia entry.

* Sol MUST be somewhere around the region of the lower half of Orion. Oddly enough, on the scene where the Cylon Basestars jump in to shot, before the camera pans up, the left half of that background star field must contain Earth.

4. IMPLICATIONS

20 light years from Earth: if it is a present or future Earth, surely the fleets should be picking up Terrestrial communications? It would go some way to explain All Along the Watchtower, although not the fact that it was a version recorded specifically for the show.

Ophiuchus: yup, the thirteenth tribe will be reached by passing through the thirteenth sign of the Zodiac, from Earth's perspective. Thirteenth Cylon model, anyone...?

Please remember that this has been determined under the assumption that the inclusion of Orion was deliberate and not a mistake / over-sight on the part of the makers of the show.

EDIT: corrected some typos and added a link for Celestia - IT'S FREE!