Betelgeuse vs Rigel

Property Betelgeuse Rigel
Designación 58Alp Ori 19Bet Ori
Constelación Orion Orion
Clase Espectral Class M — M-type (Red) Class B — B-type (Blue-White)
Magnitud Aparente +0.45 +0.18
Magnitud Absoluta -5.47 -6.93
Distancia 498 ly 863 ly
Masa N/A N/A
Radio N/A N/A
Temperatura N/A N/A
Luminosidad N/A N/A

Key Differences

  • Rigel is a blue supergiant (spectral type B); Betelgeuse is a red supergiant (spectral type M).
  • Rigel's surface temperature is ~12,100 K — more than three times hotter than Betelgeuse at ~3,600 K.
  • Betelgeuse has a far larger radius (~887 R☉) than Rigel (~79 R☉).
  • Both are in Orion and both are supernova candidates — among the most massive naked-eye stars.
  • Rigel is slightly more intrinsically luminous at ~120,000 L☉ versus Betelgeuse's ~126,000 L☉.

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