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)
190,108 ×
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
Visible to the naked eyeno equipment needed · apparent magnitude 2.4
It pours out about 190,108 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 · Wikidata
It lives in
Milky Way
Barred spiral galaxy.
Other notable stars in the Milky Way
Eta CarinaeLuminous blue variableAlnilamBlue supergiantVY Canis MajorisRed hypergiantAlnitakHot blue supergiantDenebBlue-white supergiantAntaresRed supergiant
Stars of similar brightness
DenebBlue-white supergiant195,884 ×AlnitakHot blue supergiant250,035 ×VY Canis MajorisRed hypergiant269,774 ×AlnilamBlue supergiant271,019 ×WOH G64Red hypergiant281,838 ×Sanduleak -69° 202Blue supergiant (B3 Ia)100,000 ×
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→