Alnilam
Blue supergiant · Epsilon Orionis
Central star of Orion's Belt
Alnilam is the brilliant blue supergiant at the center of Orion's Belt, blazing with the light of hundreds of thousands of Suns from well over a thousand light-years away. It is one of the most luminous stars visible to the naked eye and is steadily shedding mass through powerful stellar winds.
Illustration generated from temperature, not a photograph
28.4 ☉
mass (the Sun = 1)
271,019 ×
as bright as the Sun
25,000 K
surface · blue-white star
34 R☉
radius (the Sun = 1)
1,250 ly
from Earth
1.7
apparent magnitude
Visible to the naked eyeno equipment needed · apparent magnitude 1.7
It pours out about 271,019 times the Sun’s light. Its light has been travelling 1,250 years to reach us, so you see Alnilam as it was 1,250 years ago.
Source · Wikidata
It lives in
Milky Way
Barred spiral galaxy.
Other notable stars in the Milky Way
Eta CarinaeLuminous blue variableVY Canis MajorisRed hypergiantAlnitakHot blue supergiantDenebBlue-white supergiantMintakaHot blue giant multiple starAntaresRed supergiant
Stars of similar brightness
VY Canis MajorisRed hypergiant269,774 ×WOH G64Red hypergiant281,838 ×AlnitakHot blue supergiant250,035 ×DenebBlue-white supergiant195,884 ×MintakaHot blue giant multiple star190,108 ×Sanduleak -69° 202Blue supergiant (B3 Ia)100,000 ×
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→