Rigel
Blue supergiant · Beta Orionis
Brightest star in Orion
A brilliant blue supergiant marking the foot of Orion, Rigel outshines every other star in its constellation and pours out energy at tens of thousands of times the Sun's rate.
Illustration generated from temperature, not a photograph
18.0 ☉
mass (the Sun = 1)
12,130 K
surface · blue-white star
74 R☉
radius (the Sun = 1)
860 ly
from Earth
0.1
apparent magnitude
Visible to the naked eyeno equipment needed · apparent magnitude 0.1
Its light has been travelling 860 years to reach us, so you see Rigel as it was 860 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 supergiantMintakaHot blue giant multiple star
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→