Mintaka and Alnilam stars. Optical photograph of Mintaka (top right) and Alnilam (lower left), stars in the constellation of Orion. Mintaka (Delta Orionis) has a magnitude of 1.7 and lies 1200 light years from Earth. Alnilam (Epsilon Orionis) has a magnitude of 2.2 and is 2300 light years away. Orion has a belt made up of three equally bright stars. Mintaka is the furthest east of the three with Alnilam at centre. This image is from the UK Schmidt telescope in Siding Springs, Australia, which is run by the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, Scotland. The telescope has a 1.8 metre primary mirror. North is at top.