Mintaka
Hot blue giant multiple star · Delta Orionis
Westernmost star of Orion's Belt; sits almost on the celestial equator
Mintaka is the westernmost star of Orion's Belt and lies so close to the celestial equator that it rises due east and sets due west, making it a natural compass in the sky. What appears as one star is a complex multiple system dominated by hot, massive blue stars.
Illustration generated from temperature, not a photograph
17.8 ☉
mass (the Sun = 1)
190 thousand ×
as bright as the Sun
30,100 K
surface · blue
16 R☉
radius (the Sun = 1)
1,246 ly
from Earth
2.4
apparent magnitude
It pours out about 190 thousand times the Sun’s light. Its light has been travelling 1,246 years to reach us, so you see Mintaka as it was 1,246 years ago.
Source · View on Wikidata
It lives in
Milky Way
Barred spiral galaxy.
Other notable stars in Milky Way
Eta CarinaeLuminous blue variableAlnilamBlue supergiantVY Canis MajorisRed hypergiantAlnitakHot blue supergiantDenebBlue-white supergiantAntaresRed supergiant
Stars of similar brightness
DenebBlue-white supergiant196 thousand ×AlnitakHot blue supergiant250 thousand ×VY Canis MajorisRed hypergiant270 thousand ×AlnilamBlue supergiant271 thousand ×WOH G64Red hypergiant282 thousand ×Sanduleak -69° 202Blue supergiant (B3 Ia)100 thousand ×
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→