Alnitak
The eastern star of Orion’s Belt, a hot blue supergiant close in the sky to the Horsehead and Flame nebulae.
Tonight from
Rise, highest point and set are worked out on your device for the place above.
What it is
- Brightness
- Magnitude 1.74, the 33rd brightest star in the night sky
- Distance
- 736 light years
- Kind of star
- Blue supergiant, spectral type O9.5 Ib
- Light it gives out
- About 8,900 times the Sun’s, in visible light
- Constellation
- Orion, where it is ζ Orionis
- Catalogue number
- HIP 26727
Figures from HYG database 4.1 (Hipparcos, Yale Bright Star and Gliese catalogues), CC BY-SA 4.0. All sources
Near it in the sky
- AlnilamA blue-white supergiant in Orion, right beside it, a finger’s width away.
- MintakaA blue bright giant in Orion, about three fingers away.
- Orion NebulaA nebula in Orion, about three fingers away.
- RigelA blue-white supergiant in Orion, about a fist away.
- BellatrixA blue-white giant in Orion, about a fist away.