Rigel star

Imagine you are only 1AU from Rigel - posted in General Observing and Astronomy: Three years ago I was in Bali and saw Rigel exactly overhead. I tried to imagine how a Rigelian would see our Earth. It was February, so they would see a crescent with Bali in the center but on the dark side of Earth. But see ? How big a telescope ? The E-ELT ? No. The largest telescope currently on Earth, the E-ELT with its 39m main mirror wont see Earth in any detail. Even the Sun is a dim point of mag…

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.

Regulus, also known as Alpha Leonis and Cor Leonis, is the brightest star in the constellation Leo.

Information on the super-giant star Rigel, its temperature, mass, radius, luminosity, distance from Earth and other fascinating facts and statistics.

Nightsky - Betlegeuse, Sirius, Rigel

rigel

IC-2118 The Witchhead Nebula and giant star Rigel in Orion Constellation cropped mobile wallpaper 1080x2400