Introduction Have you ever wondered just how big the stars in the night sky are? If you’ve ever gazed up at the constellation of Orion, you’ve probably noticed a particularly bright star - that’s Rigel. This star is not only one of the brightest stars we can see from Earth, but it’s also a supergiant, which means it’s incredibly large. But how big is it really? Let’s delve into the fascinating world of astronomy and find out more about the size of Rigel.
Size of Rigel Rigel is a blue supergiant star. This means it’s much larger than our own Sun. In fact, Rigel is more than seventy times the size of the Sun! If we could place Rigel and the Sun side by side, the Sun would look like a tiny speck next to the enormous Rigel.
To put it in perspective, if Rigel were in the center of our solar system, it would extend all the way out to the orbit of Mars. That’s right, Rigel is so large that it could swallow up Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars!
Size Comparison To help you understand just how big Rigel really is, let’s compare it to some other things:
- The Earth: Rigel is about 70 times the size of the Sun, and the Sun is about 109 times the diameter of Earth. That means Rigel is roughly 7,630 times the size of Earth!
- The Great Pyramid of Giza: This ancient Egyptian pyramid is one of the largest structures ever built by humans. But Rigel is so big that you could line up over 100 billion Great Pyramids from one side of Rigel to the other.
- The Moon: The Moon is about 1/4 the size of Earth, so Rigel is about 30,520 times the size of the Moon.
More Fun Facts About Rigel Rigel is not only big, but it’s also incredibly bright. It shines with a light that’s between 61,500 to 363,000 times as bright as the Sun. That makes it one of the brightest stars in the night sky.
Despite its size and brightness, Rigel is also quite far away. It’s located about 860 light-years from the Sun. That means the light we see from Rigel tonight actually left the star 860 years ago!
Conclusion So now you know just how enormous Rigel is. It’s one of the largest and brightest stars in our night sky, and it truly gives us a sense of just how vast the universe is. So the next time you look up at the stars, remember the incredible size of Rigel, and marvel at the wonders of our universe.
Smaller By Category
Albireo
Albireo is made up of three stars total. Here we are just showing the largest one. Two of the stars are close, and form a yellow dot. The third is blue and further away. The blue star and yellow stars are so far apart it takes them 100,000 years to complete one orbit.
Aldebaran
Aldebaran is not to be confused with Alderaan, which is a planet in Star Wars. Alderaan is very similar to Earth in size, day length, and water cover. However, Aldebaran is 4,900 times larger, rotates every 520 Earth days, and has no water.
Polaris
Polaris is known as the North Star. It is very near the north pole, so if you want to know which way is north, just try to find Polaris. Locate the two stars on the far side of the Big Dipper, and go upward.
Larger By Category
Distance from Earth to Sun
During the day, the Sun doesn't seem so far away. It's actually about 150 million kilometers away. That distance is an astronomical unit, which is called an AU for short.
Gacrux
Gacrux can be found in the constellation Crux. Crux, which means "cross" in Latin, is known as the Southern Cross. We think Gacrux might be a binary star, but we haven't been able to spot its companion yet. The main star is a red giant.
Deneb
Deneb is the brightest star in the constellation of Cygnus. Deneb is 2,600 light-years away, which makes it the most distant of the 25 brightest stars. If you lived on Mars, Deneb would appear above the North Pole - not Polaris.