Rigel

Rigel (β Ori, β Orionis, Beta Orionis) is the brightest star in the constellation Orion and the sixth brightest star in the sky, with visual magnitude 0.18. Although it has the Bayer designation "beta", it is almost always brighter than Alpha Orionis (Betelgeuse).

Spectroscopic estimates of Rigel's distance place its distance between 700 and 900 light-years (210 and 280 pc), while Hipparcos's measurement of its parallax gives a distance of 773 light-years (237 pc), with a margin of error of about 19%. It is a blue supergiant, at 17 solar masses, shining with approximately 85,000 times the luminosity of the Sun. Rigel is the most luminous star in our local region of the Milky Way; the nearest more powerful star is Naos, almost 1,100 light years away in Puppis.

Rigel has been a known visual binary since at least 1831, when it was first measured by F. G. W. Struve. Though Rigel B is not particularly faint at magnitude 6.7, its closeness to Rigel A — which is over 500 times brighter — makes it a challenging target for telescopes smaller than 150 mm (5.9 in). However a good 7 cm telescope will reveal Rigel B at 150x power and good seeing. At Rigel's estimated distance, Rigel B is separated from its primary by over 2200 AU; not surprisingly, there has been no sign of orbital movement, though they share the same proper motion.