Star
Alnilam
Blue-white star · B0Ia
ε Orionis · Orion
Shown in its true colour — like most stars, it is too far away to photograph as more than a point of light.
Alnilam is the central star of Orion's Belt in the equatorial constellation of Orion. It has the Bayer designation ε Orionis, which is Latinised to Epsilon Orionis and abbreviated Epsilon Ori or ε Ori. This is a massive, blue supergiant star some 1,250 light-years distant. It is estimated to be 270,000 times as luminous as the Sun, and 28 times as massive.
Description from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
In your sky
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Key facts
Distance
~1,977 light-years
Apparent mag.
+1.69
Spectral type
B0Ia
Luminosity
67,484 × Sun
Absolute mag.
−7.22
Catalogue
HIP 26311
Spectral type
B0Ia
True colour from its B–V index (-0.18): a surface around 13100 K.
Did you know
- Alnilam is also known as ε Orionis.
- Its spectral type B0Ia marks it as a blue-white star.
- It lies in the constellation Orion.
