Rigel (HIP 24436)
Rigel is a blue supergiant star in the constellation Orion. At 854 light years away, it is the 7th brightest star in the Earth's sky, where it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 0.18. Rigel is a component of a multiple-star system and an intrinsic variable star that varies between magntitudes 0.17 and 0.22 over a period of 2.07 days. It is moving through the Galaxy at a speed of 17.9 km/s relative to the Sun and is part of the Orion Molecular Cloud moving group. Its projected Galactic orbit carries it between 24,800 and 29,700 light years from the center of the Galaxy.
Sky position: RA 5h 14.5m, Dec -8° 12'
