Mintaka, also known as δ Orionis, is one of the three stars of the belt of the Orion constellation. The name 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 which was accidentally exposed to advanced technology (Star Trek: The Next Generation: "Who Watches the Watchers?").
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