Arabic star names / Rigel
Rigel
رجل الجوزاء
Rigel comes from the Arabic رجل الجوزاء (Rijl al-Jawzāʾ), which means “the foot of al-Jawzāʾ”. It is the 7th-brightest star in the sky, in Orion.
- Brightness
- 0.18
- Colour
- blue-white
- Constellation
- Orion
- Best seen
- January evenings
- Right ascension
- 5h 15m
- Declination
- −8° 12′
The name
The brightest star of Orion stands at the giant's left foot. Europe kept only the word rijl, foot.
Where you can see it
It rises everywhere south of 82°N. From Riyadh it climbs to 57° above the horizon. From London it climbs to 30° above the horizon. From Sydney it climbs to 64° above the horizon.
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