Bellatrix

star

Also known as: Gamma Orionis

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History

Bellatrix, the 26th brightest star in the sky and the third brightest star in the constellation of Orion. Bellatrix is also one of the 57 stars of celestial navigation. Orion is bisected by the celestial equator and hence is visible from almost any part of the world. Bellatrix is situated at the left shoulder of Orion in depictions of the great hunter. Of all the bright stars in Orion, Bellatrix is the first to rise in the eastern skies.

The name Bellatrix derives from a Latin word meaning “female warrior.” Its Arabic name, Al Najīd, means “the leader,” because it is the first of the constellation’s bright stars to rise in the sky. In Arab legends, the star is also called a roaring lion. The star is sometimes referred to as the Amazon Star. Cultures that originated along the Amazon River pictured the star as a young boy in a canoe; another star in the constellation, Betelgeuse, was depicted as an old man.

Bellatrix is a blue-white star with a visual magnitude of 1.64. Its radial velocity—the velocity of a star along the sight of an observer—is 18 km (11 miles) per second in recession. Its distance from Earth is estimated to be about 250 light-years. The light output of Bellatrix is about 4,000 times greater than that of the Sun. Surrounding Bellatrix is a faint nebulosity illuminated by the bright star. Bellatrix belongs to the group of stars called the Orion OB1 Association. This group includes massive stars less than 10 million years old, the youngest of which are in the vicinity of the Great Nebula in Orion. The stars of Orion’s belt—Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka—and Saiph, in the southwest corner of the figure, are included in the association.