Alnilam
Blue supergiant · Epsilon Orionis
Central star of Orion's Belt
Alnilam is the brilliant blue supergiant at the center of Orion's Belt, blazing with the light of hundreds of thousands of Suns from well over a thousand light-years away. It is one of the most luminous stars visible to the naked eye and is steadily shedding mass through powerful stellar winds.
Illustration generated from temperature, not a photograph
28.4 ☉
mass (the Sun = 1)
271 thousand ×
as bright as the Sun
25,000 K
surface · blue-white star
34 R☉
radius (the Sun = 1)
1,250 ly
from Earth
1.7
apparent magnitude
It pours out about 271 thousand times the Sun’s light. Its light has been travelling 1,250 years to reach us, so you see Alnilam as it was 1,250 years ago.
Source · View on Wikidata
It lives in
Milky Way
Barred spiral galaxy.
Other notable stars in Milky Way
Eta CarinaeLuminous blue variableVY Canis MajorisRed hypergiantAlnitakHot blue supergiantDenebBlue-white supergiantMintakaHot blue giant multiple starAntaresRed supergiant
Stars of similar brightness
VY Canis MajorisRed hypergiant270 thousand ×WOH G64Red hypergiant282 thousand ×AlnitakHot blue supergiant250 thousand ×DenebBlue-white supergiant196 thousand ×MintakaHot blue giant multiple star190 thousand ×Sanduleak -69° 202Blue supergiant (B3 Ia)100 thousand ×
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→