Rigel in Fiction - The Star Rigel

The Star Rigel

Rigel (Beta Orionis) is a luminous blue supergiant of spectral type B8 Iae, in the constellation Orion, that is frequently featured in works of science fiction. The star is actually a visual binary, with the secondary component Rigel B itself being a spectroscopic binary that has never been resolved visually, and which taken as a single source is 500 times dimmer and over 2200 AU from its overwhelming companion Rigel A ("Rigel"). This irregular variable star is the most luminous in our local region of the Milky Way; at about 71 times the diameter of the Sun it would, if viewed from a hypothetical planet at a distance of 1 AU, subtend an angle of 35° in the sky—when rising or setting it would extend from the horizon almost halfway up the sky—and it would shine at a lethal magnitude of −38 (see graphic).

There is no evidence that the Rigel system hosts any extrasolar planets. However, several creators of works of science fiction have chosen to populate it with an unusually large family of worlds (see The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester, Demon Princes by Jack Vance, and Star Trek below).

Rigel is the brightest star in the constellation Orion and the sixth brightest star in the sky, with an apparent magnitude of 0.18. Although it has the Bayer designation "Beta," it is almost always brighter than Alpha Orionis (Betelgeuse). Whereas the latter star represents the right shoulder of the Hunter, Rigel represents his left foot. It is the first star counterclockwise from Sirius in the Winter Hexagon, and is followed in turn by Aldebaran.

The star's name is a contraction of Riǧl Ǧawza al-Yusra, this being Arabic for left foot of the central one. Another Arabic name is رجل الجبار, riǧl al-ǧabbār, that is, the foot of the great one. It figures prominently in the mythologies of Egypt, China, Japan, and Oceania.