Star
Rigel
B8 Ia blue supergiant
Rigel is usually the brightest star in Orion and one of the most luminous stars in our part of the galaxy, shining with tens of thousands of times the Sun's output.
In your sky
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Key facts
Distance
~860 light-years
Apparent mag.
+0.13
Luminosity
~120,000 × Sun
Radius
~79 × Sun
Temperature
~12,100 K
Spectral type
B8Ia
True colour from its B–V index (-0.03): a surface around 10500 K.
Did you know
- Rigel is a multiple star system with at least four components.
- Its name comes from Arabic for 'the foot'.
- It illuminates the faint Witch Head Nebula nearby.
