- Stars with a name
- Alnitak
Alnitak
ζ Orionis
Alnitak is a very hot blue supergiant, in the constellation Orion. The light you see from it tonight left it around 1290.
Where to find it
From mid-northern latitudes, such as New York, Rome or Tokyo, it is best seen in the evening sky in January, February, and December.
Bright enough to see even from a city. Apparent magnitude 1.74.
What it’s like
It gives off 8,937 times as much light as the Sun.
Its surface is at about 13,600 degrees.
It is 736.2 light years away: 6965 trillion kilometres.