Rigel, also called Beta Orionis, 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 870 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.
Orion is the most-easily recognized constellation in the sky, which is no doubt due to its distinctive configuration, and the fact its constituent stars are very luminous. In fact, it includes two of the brightest stars in the entire sky, including Rigel, a magnificent bluish-white supergiant located 772.9 light years distant, and with an apparent magnitude of 0.13, making it the 7th brightest star in the entire night sky. Although Rigel appears as a single star in the bottom right corner of Orion, it is actually a binary star system consisting of Rigel A and Rigel B, the latter of which cannot be seen by the unaided eye.
