Alnitak
Hot blue supergiant · Zeta Orionis
Easternmost star of Orion's Belt; brightest O-class star in the sky
Alnitak is the easternmost star of Orion's Belt and the brightest O-type star in the night sky, an immensely hot blue supergiant near the end of its life. It anchors a triple system and lights up the nearby Flame and Horsehead nebulae.
Illustration generated from temperature, not a photograph
33.0 ☉
mass (the Sun = 1)
250,035 ×
as bright as the Sun
29,500 K
surface · blue-white star
20 R☉
radius (the Sun = 1)
1,260 ly
from Earth
1.8
apparent magnitude
Visible to the naked eyeno equipment needed · apparent magnitude 1.8
It pours out about 250,035 times the Sun’s light. Its light has been travelling 1,260 years to reach us, so you see Alnitak as it was 1,260 years ago.
Source · Wikidata
It lives in
Milky Way
Barred spiral galaxy.
Other notable stars in the Milky Way
Eta CarinaeLuminous blue variableAlnilamBlue supergiantVY Canis MajorisRed hypergiantDenebBlue-white supergiantMintakaHot blue giant multiple starAntaresRed supergiant
Stars of similar brightness
VY Canis MajorisRed hypergiant269,774 ×AlnilamBlue supergiant271,019 ×WOH G64Red hypergiant281,838 ×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→