Star profile
Tau Orionis
Hot blue starWhat is Tau Orionis
Tau Orionis burns along the Hunter’s flank as a hot blue B-type giant about 494 light-years away, near the western foot of the figure. It belongs to the great fraternity of young, luminous stars that trace Orion’s silhouette —brief, violent lives lighting the gas of their own cradle across the northern winter sky—, in one of the few regions of the heavens where the birth of new stars is still, at this very moment, an event unfolding before our telescopes.
Where it is and when to see it
Tau Orionis lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is December, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it culminates about 32° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 42° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 63° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 83° N.
It ranks no. 12 in brightness among the 128 stars of Orion in our catalogue. To find it, start from Rigel, the brightest: it lies about 2° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 490 years ago.
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Astronomical data for Tau Orionis
- Constellation
- Orion
- Apparent magnitude
- 3.59
- Distance
- 494.2 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 79.402° · Dec -6.844°
- Catalogue
- HIP 24674 · HD 34503
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Other stars in Orion
Orion has 128 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- RigelBeta Orionis0.18
- BetelgeuseAlpha Orionis0.45
- BellatrixGamma Orionis1.64
- TabitPi 3 Orionis3.19
- Eta Orionis3.35
- MeissaLambda Orionis3.39
- Pi 4 Orionis3.68
- Pi 5 Orionis3.71