Rigel is the brilliant blue-white supergiant at Orion’s foot, a massive star whose light lights up the faint Witch Head Nebula nearby.
At a glance
| type | blue-white supergiant (class B) |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 863 light-years (265 pc) |
| its light left it | 863 years ago |
| luminosity | 120,000 × the Sun |
| radius | 78.9 × the Sun |
| surface temperature | 12,100 K |
| constellation | Orion (Hunter) |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Rigel
Rigel is a massive, hot star that has left the main sequence and swollen into a blue-white supergiant, shining with tremendous power. It is usually the brightest star in Orion, outshining Betelgeuse, and its blue-white colour makes a strong contrast with Betelgeuse’s orange-red.
It has fainter companions: the companion seen in a small telescope is itself made of several stars. Nearby on the sky, a faint cloud of dust known as the Witch Head Nebula, IC 2118, shines by reflecting Rigel’s blue light.
What you see in the piece
With HUMAN EYE on it is the bright blue-white foot of Orion. Fly out towards Orion and Rigel and Betelgeuse turn out to lie at quite different distances, the hunter coming apart.
Questions
How bright is Rigel compared with the Sun?
Rigel’s luminosity is 120,000 × the Sun, from a star with a radius of 78.9 × the Sun and a surface temperature of about 12,100 K.