Mintaka
The western star of Orion’s Belt. It sits almost on the celestial equator, so it rises close to due east and sets close to due west everywhere on Earth.
Tonight from
Rise, highest point and set are worked out on your device for the place above.
What it is
- Brightness
- Magnitude 2.25, the 75th brightest star in the night sky
- Distance
- 692 light years
- Kind of star
- Blue bright giant, spectral type O9.5 II
- Light it gives out
- About 4,900 times the Sun’s, in visible light
- Constellation
- Orion, where it is δ Orionis
- Catalogue number
- HIP 25930
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.
- AlnitakA blue supergiant in Orion, about three fingers away.
- Orion NebulaA nebula in Orion, about three fingers away.
- BellatrixA blue-white giant in Orion, about three fingers away.
- RigelA blue-white supergiant in Orion, about a fist away.