A constellation is created by 'joining the dots' of stars that appear close together. When the dots are joined, these stars form a picture. Humans have created constellations for thousands of years, making use of the regular and predictable patterns in the night sky for many different reasons including to help navigate across land and sea or to tell what season it is. Behind every constellation there is a story.

The constellation we call Orion is based in Greek mythology. Joining the stars, it looks like the giant Greek hunter. The three bright stars in the middle are his belt, the two upper one are his shoulders, while the two lower ones are his knees. Sometimes he is holding a bow, or as in this picture slaying an animal with his club.

But other people have found different shapes.

Old islamic astronomers called this constellation al-jauza, a female form meaning 'the central one'.

For the Lakota people in North America, Orion's belt is known as Tayamnicankhu, the spine of a bison.

In the soutern hemisphere, they see Orion upside down. The night sky looks different depending on the location on Earth, as it changes the perspective of humans. That's why in Australia, Orion is sometimes known as the saucepan.

The Yolngu Aboriginal people of Arnhem Land tell the story of three brothers who went fishing in a canoe. When one of them ate a fish that was forbidden under their law, the Sun-woman Walu created a waterspout that lifted their canoes into the sky to form the constellation Djulpan.