Star Rigel

The star Rigel forms together with the star Betelgeuse the constellation Orion. Rigel is the eighth brightest star in the sky and also part of the winter hexagon.

Facts about the star Rigel

The distance from Earth to the star Rigel is between 650 and 900 light years. Its luminosity is 460,000 times that of the sun and it has an apparent brightness of 0.13mag. Therefore it is the brightest star in the constellation Orion. Furthermore Rigel is a multiple star system, which consists of Rigel A and Rigel B. The color of the star Rigel is bluish-white, which indicates a very high temperature. Accordingly, its surface temperature is twice as high as that of the Sun and it is 62 times larger than the sun. Therefore, Rigel is a blue giant, and because of its gigantic surface area and high temperature, it can emit a tremendous amount of light.

Visibility of the star

The constellation Orion, with the star Rigel, can be observed particularly well in the winter sky in Central Europe in the months between August and April. Rigel is one of the celestial bodies that shine so brightly that you can see it with the naked eye.