Rigel is Beta Orionis (β Ori), HD 34085 and HIP 24436, preserved as permanent object 26. The stored visual magnitude is about 0.18; SIMBAD lists a representative V magnitude of 0.13, spectral type B8 Ia and a Hipparcos parallax of 3.78 ± 0.34 milliarcseconds: https://simbad.cds.unistra.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=Rigel. Simply inverting that parallax gives roughly 265 parsecs, or 860 light-years. That is a scale estimate from one astrometric measurement, not a new distance solution, and the quoted uncertainty matters for so luminous a star.
The spectral suffix Ia identifies a very luminous supergiant. Rigel has evolved far beyond the compact main-sequence state and now drives a stellar wind from an extended atmosphere. Its blue-white appearance follows from a hot B-type photosphere, but an unaided eye sees only an unresolved point. “Blue supergiant” describes temperature and luminosity class; it does not imply that a small telescope can show a blue disk.
Rigel also varies. Moravveji and collaborators combined 28 days of MOST satellite photometry with more than six years of radial-velocity monitoring. They reported nineteen significant pulsation modes with timescales from about 1.2 to 74.7 days and associated them with high-order gravity modes probing the stellar interior. The flux changes and radial-velocity changes showed some correlation, while different spectral-line measurements did not yield one simple repeating picture. Source: Moravveji et al. (2012), https://arxiv.org/abs/1201.0843.
That study calls Rigel a prospective Type II supernova progenitor. The phrase describes the expected end state of a massive evolved star, not a forecast that an explosion is imminent on a human timescale. Interferometric spectroscopy has separately resolved structure in hydrogen-alpha light from Rigel's extended wind, using atmosphere-and-wind models to interpret the measurement. Source: de Almeida et al. (2022), https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stac1617. The directly observed variability and extended line-forming region are firmer than any exact prediction of its future.
The IAU-approved name Rigel comes through Arabic for the foot of the giant, matching its traditional place at Orion's lower western corner. Beta is Bayer's letter, not a guarantee of second place in modern brightness rankings; Rigel commonly outshines Alpha Orionis. Official star-name guidance: https://www.iau.org/public/themes/naming_stars/.
The stored position is approximately right ascension 5h 15m and declination −8° 12′. At latitude 45° N, Rigel reaches about 37° altitude at upper culmination; at 35° S it reaches about 63°. These are original geometric calculations from the preserved coordinates, excluding refraction, terrain and daylight.
Rigel is easy to identify at the lower end of Orion's accepted figure: follow the Belt toward the bright blue-white corner opposite reddish Betelgeuse. In the repository's accepted Winter Hexagon, Rigel is also the southern vertex between Sirius and Aldebaran. Those preserved relationships provide a robust large-scale check, but the rendered finder and reader link still require separate inspection before completion.
No optical aid is needed, and ordinary magnification will not reveal the photosphere, wind or pulsation modes. A visual observer can compare its colour with Betelgeuse and note brightness estimates across many nights, while recognizing that small atmospheric and physiological effects complicate such comparisons. The week's Moon, darkness and timing belong in the changing almanac rather than this reusable account.
