Visibility
The apparent magnitude of Rigel is listed in the astronomical database SIMBAD at 0.12, making it on average the sixth brightest star in the celestial sphere excluding the Sun—just fainter than Vega and ahead of Procyon (It is brighter than each component of the double star Capella, though that binary system is marginally brighter than Rigel when taken as a single point of light.). It is an irregular pulsating variable with a visual range of magnitude 0.05-0.18.
Rigel is the third most inherently luminous first magnitude star after Deneb and Betelgeuse. Rigel has a color index (B–V) of -0.03, meaning it appears white or lightly blue-white.
Culminating at midnight on December 12, and at 9PM on January 24, Rigel is most visible in winter evenings in the northern hemisphere and summer in the southern. In the southern hemisphere, Rigel is the first bright star of Orion visible as the constellation rises.
Read more about this topic: Rigel
Famous quotes containing the word visibility:
“My children have taught me things. Things I thought I knew. The most profound wisdom they have given me is a respect for human vulnerability. I have known that people are resilient, but I didn’t appreciate how fragile they are. Until children learn to hide their feelings, you read them in their faces, gestures, and postures. The sheer visibility of shyness, pain, and rejection let me recognize and remember them.”
—Shirley Nelson Garner (20th century)