Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
Rigel
Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics
Images
Orion Rigel star
Quizzes
The orbits of the planets and other elements of the solar system, including asteroids, Kuiper belt, Oort cloud, comet
Space Odyssey
Ursa major constellation illustration art. (Big Dipper) stars, space, night sky)
Stars: Explosions in Space
1 July 2002: The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellite reveals a massive solar eruption more than 30 times the Earth's diameter. The eruption formed when a loop of a magnetic field over the surface of the Sun trapped hot gas.
Brightest Star in the Solar System
Quick Facts
Also called:
Beta Orionis
See all related content
Britannica AI Icon
Adding us as a Preferred Source tells Google you trust our content, so our articles show up more often in your Google Search, Discover feed, and AI Overviews.
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Britannica Websites
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
Orion
Orion The constellation Orion is one of the easiest to recognize because of a group of three stars. The three stars are in a straight line and are often called Orion's Belt. The Orion Nebula can be seen as a pink fuzzy light below the line of three stars. Orion also contains two of the brightest stars in the sky: Betelgeuse (top left) and Rigel (bottom right).

Rigel

star
Also known as: Beta Orionis
Written and fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
History

Rigel, one of the brightest stars in the sky, intrinsically as well as in appearance. A blue-white supergiant in the constellation Orion, Rigel is about 860 light-years from the Sun and is about 47,000 times as luminous. A companion double star, also bluish white, is of the sixth magnitude. The name Rigel derives from an Arabic term meaning “the left leg of the giant,” referring to the figure of Orion.

(List of Brightest Stars as Seen from Earth)

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Erik Gregersen.
Discover the fascinating events that shaped the world, straight from our editors.
By clicking “Sign Up”, you consent to the Britannica Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.