A fixed star of the first magnitude in the left foot of the constellation Orion.
Rigel (beta Orionis) is the brightest star in the constellation called Orion and one of the brightest stars in the sky. It is a blue (very hot) supergiant, over 60 million miles in diameter (almost 100 times bigger than the sun). It is more than 50,000 times more luminous than the Sun. It has an absolute magnitude of -7.1 and an apparent magnitude of +0.12. It is over 900 light-years from Earth.
Rigel (pronounced ) (β Orionis) is the brightest star in the constellation Orion and the seventh brightest star in the sky, with visual magnitude 0.12. Although it has the Bayer designation "beta", it is almost always brighter than Alpha Orionis (Betelgeuse). It also has the alternative traditional names Algebar or Elgebar, but these are almost never used.
Rigel is the name of an Argentinian sounding rocket. The double stage Rigel (first stage Canopus, second stage Orion-2) was launched seven times between 1969 and 1973. The Rigel rocket has a maximum altitude of 310 km, a launch mass of 300 kg, a diameter of 0.228 metres and a length of 6.30 metres.
The Rigel was a Norwegian vessel named after the brightest star in the Orion constellation, built in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1924. The vessel was sunk by the British Royal Navy off Norway on 27 November 1944 during World War II.