Mintaka, also known as δ Orionis, is one of the three stars of the belt of the Orion constellation. The name منطقة manţaqah means "belt" in Arabic.
Mintaka is actually a binary star, consisting of a class B giant and a smaller but hotter class O. The stars orbit each other every 5.73 days.
In 1904, Johannes Hartmann discovered that interstellar space contains a thin gas, by using Mintaka as a background source (see interstellar medium).
Mintaka in fiction
In the Star Trek fictional universe, the Mintakans are a pre–warp drive society who were accidentally exposed to advanced technology (Star Trek: The Next Generation: "Who Watches the Watchers?").
External links
