Rasalhague
White giant (rapid rotator) · Alpha Ophiuchi
Brightest star in Ophiuchus
The brightest star in Ophiuchus, the Serpent-Bearer, Rasalhague spins so rapidly that it is flattened into an oblate spheroid, making it cooler and dimmer at its equator than its poles. It has a much fainter companion star in a close orbit.
Illustration generated from temperature, not a photograph
2.2 ☉
mass (the Sun = 1)
31 ×
as bright as the Sun
7,798 K
surface · white star
3 R☉
radius (the Sun = 1)
49 ly
from Earth
2.1
apparent magnitude
It pours out about 31 times the Sun’s light. Its light has been travelling 49 years to reach us, so you see Rasalhague as it was 49 years ago.
Source · View on Wikidata
It lives in
Milky Way
Barred spiral galaxy.
Other notable stars in Milky Way
Eta CarinaeLuminous blue variableAlnilamBlue supergiantVY Canis MajorisRed hypergiantAlnitakHot blue supergiantDenebBlue-white supergiantMintakaHot blue giant multiple star
Stars of similar brightness
MizarBlue-white multiple star33 ×VegaBlue-white main-sequence star40 ×FomalhautWhite main-sequence star17 ×DenebolaWhite main-sequence star15 ×AltairWhite main-sequence star11 ×ProcyonYellow-white subgiant6.9 ×
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→