Bellatrix (HIP 25336)
Bellatrix is a blue giant star in the constellation Orion. At 252 light years away, it is the 27th brightest star in the Earth's sky, where it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 1.64. Bellatrix is the primary component of a multiple-star system. The iron abundance of Bellatrix is -0.07 (85.1% of the Sun). It is moving through the Galaxy at a speed of 19 km/s relative to the Sun. Its projected Galactic orbit carries it between 24,400 and 28,700 light years from the center of the Galaxy. It came closest to the Sun 3.8 million years ago when it had brightened to magnitude -1.03 from a distance of 74 light years.
Sky position: RA 5h 25.1m, Dec +6° 21'
