Astronomy · Stars

Rigel

The blue supergiant at Orion's foot.

ScienceBeginner

A luminous blue supergiant

Rigel is a blue supergiant, a hot and extraordinarily luminous star. Its blue-white color signals a high surface temperature, in clear contrast to the cool, red glow of Betelgeuse across the figure of Orion.

A stellar system

What appears as a single point is a multiple-star system, with the dominant supergiant accompanied by fainter companions. The supergiant supplies almost all of the light we see.

Orion's two beacons

Rigel and Betelgeuse are the two brightest stars of Orion and a classic contrast lesson: a hot blue star and a cool red one, side by side in the same constellation, illustrating how color reveals temperature.

Knowledge connections

How this connects across Asteria Star — scientific, cultural, and astrological links are kept separate.

Scientific connections

Belongs toOrion
Associated withThe Winter Hexagon

Gallery

Verified imagery of Rigel will appear here.

Prepared for official NASA / ESA integration. We publish only openly licensed and public-domain media, with full credit, license, and source for every image.

Our sources & licensing policy →

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Fast facts

Constellation: Orion
Type: Blue supergiant
Color: Blue-white
Note: Among the most luminous stars near the Sun

Key points

A hot, blue-white supergiant — far more luminous than the Sun.
Marks the foot of Orion, opposite reddish Betelgeuse.
Part of a multiple-star system.

Data & provenance

Stable ID: star:rigel
Type: Star
Domain: Scientific connections
Relationships: 2
Graph version: 1.0.0

Dataset membership

Stars

Open data

In the graph export: graph.json · graph.jsonld

Planned API: GET /api/v0/entities/star:rigel

Scientific quality

50% complete

Reviewed2 sourcesv1.0.0

Completeness: Partial
Source coverage: Complete
Citation coverage: Complete
Relationship coverage: Partial
Review coverage: Complete
Image coverage: None
Timeline coverage: None
Localization coverage: None

Scientific entity. See the evidence framework and authority dashboard.

Provenance & sources

review 2026.1

Asteria Scientific Review Process · verification: sourced · accurate

High evidenceconfirmed
Rigel is a blue supergiant and, on average, the brightest star in the constellation Orion, far more luminous than the Sun.
Source: CDS — SIMBAD Astronomical Database · CC BY 4.0 (CDS)

Reviewed by the internal Asteria Scientific Review Process — not an external institutional review. See the evidence framework and authority dashboard.

Scientific citations

Real, source-backed references — primary papers first, then datasets and institutional sources. Formatted through the citation engine; nothing is fabricated.

Archive pageRigel (β Ori) — ESA Gaia astrometry

ESA — Gaia DPAC

Cite (APA / BibTeX)

ESA — Gaia DPAC (n.d.). Rigel (β Ori) — ESA Gaia astrometry. ESA — Gaia DPAC. https://gea.esac.esa.int/archive/

@misc{cite:gaia-star-rigel,
  title        = {Rigel (β Ori) — ESA Gaia astrometry},
  organization = {ESA — Gaia DPAC},
  year         = {n.d.},
  url          = {https://gea.esac.esa.int/archive/},
  note         = {Gaia parallax and photometry for Rigel (β Ori).}
}

Archive pageSIMBAD entry: Rigel (β Ori)

CDS — SIMBAD

Cite (APA / BibTeX)

CDS — SIMBAD (n.d.). SIMBAD entry: Rigel (β Ori). CDS — SIMBAD. https://simbad.cds.unistra.fr/simbad/

@misc{cite:simbad-star-rigel,
  title        = {SIMBAD entry: Rigel (β Ori)},
  organization = {CDS — SIMBAD},
  year         = {n.d.},
  url          = {https://simbad.cds.unistra.fr/simbad/},
  note         = {SIMBAD identifications and measurements for Rigel (β Ori).}
}

Sources & references

Facts on this topic will be cited from these primary and reference sources.

NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.
ESAEuropean Space Agency
European missions, observatories, and space science imagery.
IAUInternational Astronomical Union
Official naming, definitions, constellation boundaries, and astronomical nomenclature.

Loading…

ESA — Gaia DPAC (n.d.). Rigel (β Ori) — ESA Gaia astrometry. ESA — Gaia DPAC. https://gea.esac.esa.int/archive/ @misc{cite:gaia-star-rigel, title = {Rigel (β Ori) — ESA Gaia astrometry}, organization = {ESA — Gaia DPAC}, year = {n.d.}, url = {https://gea.esac.esa.int/archive/}, note = {Gaia parallax and photometry for Rigel (β Ori).} }

CDS — SIMBAD (n.d.). SIMBAD entry: Rigel (β Ori). CDS — SIMBAD. https://simbad.cds.unistra.fr/simbad/ @misc{cite:simbad-star-rigel, title = {SIMBAD entry: Rigel (β Ori)}, organization = {CDS — SIMBAD}, year = {n.d.}, url = {https://simbad.cds.unistra.fr/simbad/}, note = {SIMBAD identifications and measurements for Rigel (β Ori).} }

Sources & references

Facts on this topic will be cited from these primary and reference sources.

NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration

Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.

Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.

ESAEuropean Space Agency

European missions, observatories, and space science imagery.

IAUInternational Astronomical Union

Official naming, definitions, constellation boundaries, and astronomical nomenclature.

Rigel

A luminous blue supergiant

A stellar system

Orion's two beacons

Knowledge connections

Scientific connections

Gallery

Betelgeuse

Deneb

Sirius

Vega

You might also explore

Rigel

A luminous blue supergiant

A stellar system

Orion's two beacons

Knowledge connections

Scientific connections

Gallery

Betelgeuse

Deneb

Sirius

Vega

You might also explore

Rigel

A luminous blue supergiant

A stellar system

Orion's two beacons

Knowledge connections

Scientific connections

Gallery

Related entries

Betelgeuse

Deneb

Sirius

Vega

You might also explore

Rigel

A luminous blue supergiant

A stellar system

Orion's two beacons

Knowledge connections

Scientific connections

Gallery

Related entries

Betelgeuse

Deneb

Sirius

Vega

You might also explore