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Mintaka is the lead star in Orion's Belt (on the leading side as it crosses the sky). Its Declination is about a third of a degree south of the celestial equator, meaning that it passes directly overhead every day in latitudes on the globe just south of the Earth's equator. This near-zero Dec also implies that Mintaka rises almost perfectly due East and sets almost perfectly due West. The catch is that you can't see it exactly at the horizon. Extinction wipes it out below about 2° altitude, and distant clouds near the horizon often hide it even sooner.

We can still use Mintaka for an excellent estimate of East/West when it's 5-15° above the horizon using a simple trick. Draw (that is, imagine) the line through Orion's Belt and also a line rotated 35° clockwise from it that also passes through Mintaka, as in the image I'm attaching below. That second line is an approximation to the celestial equator. Visually extend that line to the horizon, and you then have an accurate location of due West, when Mintaka is setting, which will be a frequent event in the evening sky in the next couple of months. On the other side of the sky, if Mintaka is already above the horizon, extrapolate the same line backward and it will lead you to the East point.

Frank Reed

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