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Rigel is the 7th brightest star in the night sky and is the brightest star in Orion based on the Hipparcos 2007 apparent magnitude. Rigel .
Star Type: Class B Supergiant. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica.Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. NY 10036. "The same physical process causes Earth's daytime sky to appear blue, although the scatterers in Earth's atmosphere are molecules of nitrogen and oxygen. Based on the spectral type (B8Ia) of the star, the star's colour is blue . Rigel Statistics. Check out Britannica's new site for parents! At the ninth magnitude, the combined light of these stars would usually be enough for most telescopes to pick up, but they are too close to Rigel to be distinguished apart.Rigel's bright starlight also bounces off a nearby nebula, as shown in a picture published in 2012 on "The blue color of the Witch Head Nebula and of the dust surrounding Rigel is caused not only by Rigel's intense blue starlight, but because the dust grains scatter blue light more efficiently than red," NASA wrote.
Rigel, one of the brightest stars in the sky, intrinsically as well as in appearance. Also Known As: Rigel A, Beta Orionis.
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Please deactivate your ad blocker in order to see our subscription offerLight from the star Rigel reflects off the dust composing the Witch Head Nebula.A view of the winter night sky showing where the constellation Orion will be visible. Constellation: Orion.
Notable Stars. History at your fingertips Rigel or Beta Orionis (Bet Ori) is the brightest naked eye star in the constellation Orion.With an apparent magnitude of 0.18v, Rigel is the 7th brightest star in the entire sky (see: 50 Brightest Stars ).Its absolute magnitude is -6.69 and its distance is 773 light years.The Equinox J2000 equatorial coordinates are RA = 05h 14m 32.3s, Dec = -08° 12' 06". Rigel is a blue supergiant star with a luminosity more than 100,000 times that of the sun. Categories Due to its measured size and brightness it is expected to end in a supernova one day.
Their estimated masses are also similar at 3.84, 2.94, and 3.84 solar masses respectively.
Rigel A. Rigel A is a massive, luminous star of the spectral type B8 Ia, indicating a bright supergiant appearing blue or blue-white in colour.
Future US, Inc. 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, [Full story] Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox.Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. "Astronomers have made several observations of Rigel in recent years. Betelgeuse, Alpha Orionis (α Ori), is a red supergiant star of the spectral type M1-2 located in the constellation Orion, the Hunter.
Rigel is a blue supergiant that is the brightest star in the constellation Orion (the Hunter). All three appear to be blue-white main sequence stars of the spectral type B9 V, with similar temperatures. It also has two known companions, Rigel B and Rigel C.The star is about 870 light-years from the sun and 47,000 times as luminous, Rigel's name is popular in science-fiction. A blue-white supergiant in the constellation Orion, Rigel is about 870 light-years from the Sun and is about 47,000 times as luminous.
Rigel is accepted to have evolved off the main sequence, and some investigators estimate that it has lost as much as 3 solar masses of material during is short life of only 7 to 9 million years. It has an estimated radius about 887 to 955 times that of the Sun and is one of the largest stars that can be seen without binoculars.
A companion double star, also bluish white, is of the sixth magnitude.
Due to its measured size and brightness it is expected to end in a supernova one day. It is expected that Rigel will eventually end its life in a type II supernova explosion, providing the material for future star formation.
Luminosity: Approx 117,000 x Sun.
It's in the name of a number of planets in the "Star Trek" universe, is mentioned in "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," and is also featured in a number of other novels, computer games and comic books.The name comes from an Arabic phrase, "Rijl Jauzah al Yusrā," which means, "The left leg of the Jauzah," according to Richard Hinckley Allen's book "Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning" (Dover Publications, 2013).