SkyRef / Stars

Bellatrix

γ Ori. Magnitude 1.64, blue-white. Comfortably visible to the naked eye from a suburban sky.

The numbers

Designationγ Ori
Magnitude1.64
Colourblue-white
Right ascension5.419h
Declination+6.35°
B−V index-0.22
CatalogueHR 1790

What you are looking at

Astronomers call it γ Ori — the Bayer designation, which reads as a Greek letter ranking its brightness within its constellation. Bellatrix is the name people actually use.

Bellatrix shines at magnitude 1.64, making it comfortably visible to the naked eye from a suburban sky. Its B−V colour index of -0.22 makes it blue-white to the eye, corresponding to a surface temperature of over 10,000 K.

It sits at right ascension 5.42 hours and declination +6.3°. It straddles the celestial equator, so it is visible from essentially anywhere on Earth at the right time of year.

Find it tonight

SkyRef shows exactly where Bellatrix is from your location right now — altitude, compass direction, and rise and set times.

Open the live sky map →

Other named stars

SiriusCanopusArcturusRigil KentaurusVegaCapellaRigelProcyonAchernarBetelgeuseHadarAltairAldebaranAntaresSpicaPolluxFomalhautMimosaDenebAcruxRegulusAdharaShaulaBellatrixElnathMiaplacidusAlnilamAliothMirfakDubheKaus AustralisAlkaidMenkalinanAlhenaCastorAlphard