Star Rigelbetelgeuse Info

Rigel, also known as Beta Orionis, is a star in the constellation of Orion. It is the brightest star in Orion and one of the brightest stars in the night sky, making it easily visible to the naked eye. Rigel was first discovered by the ancient Sumerian people circa 3000 BCE, who named it after their god, Rigel. The Greek astronomer Ptolemy later catalogued it in his Almagest in the 2nd century, and it has been known by many names since.

Rigel is a blue supergiant and one of the most luminous stars in the Milky Way, with an apparent magnitude of 0.12. The star is around 800 light-years from Earth, and it has an absolute magnitude of -7.84. This means that Rigel is about 85,000 times brighter than the Sun, and the radiation from it is estimated to be around 40,000 times more powerful.

Rigel is roughly 40 times the size and mass of the Sun, and it is about 8.7 million years old. It is one of the most massive stars in the Milky Way, and it is estimated to have a core temperature of 32,000 K. Rigel is part of a binary star system, with the companion star being a dim red dwarf.

Rigel is not just a bright star in the night sky, but also a popular target of astronomical research. It has shown evidence of dust disks and outflows, which are structures that are believed to be remnants of planetary formation. Astronomers have also observed a gamma-ray source near Rigel, which is thought to be an interstellar medium that is being heated by the star's radiation.