The Orion constellation's main feature is the three stars which form the "belt" across the middle of Orion: from west to east Mintaka, Alnilam, and Alnitak. The name Alnitak (or Zeta Orionis) is taken from the Arabic an-nitaq, "the belt". Alnitak is a triple star system at the eastern end of Orion's belt. The primary is a blue supergiant that is also a close binary and its companion is a dull red. Close by, just to the south, is the renowned Horsehead Nebula, a so-called dark nebula that is not visible in scopes but quite spectacular in long-exposure photographs.

In Star Trek, Kirk mentions that in the year 2030 there is a famous novelist from "a planet circling the far left star in Orion's Belt". (TOS: "The City on the Edge of Forever")