Stars · Star
Rigel, Orion’s brilliant blue-white supergiant, calculated from its measured 12,000 K temperature.
Featured palette: Calculated blackbody colour at 12,000 K (Calculated from this model)
#C0D1FF
#C0D1FFAbout Rigel
Rigel (β Orionis, spectral type B8 Iae) is a blue supergiant. Quantitative spectroscopy gives an effective temperature of 12,000 ± 200 K.
| Classification | Star |
|---|---|
| Identifiers | β Orionis, HD 34085 |
| Spectral type | B8Iaspectral type (SIMBAD * bet Ori; ref 2024A&A...690A.176N) · CDS, Strasbourg |
| Effective temperature | 12,000 K ± 200 Keffective temperature (photosphere) · Astronomy & Astrophysics / arXiv |
| Distance | 863 light-years ± 78 light-yearsdistance from parallax 3.78 ± 0.34 mas (SIMBAD; ref 2007A&A...474..653V) · CDS, Strasbourg |
Why these colours?
Blue-white
A 12,000 K blackbody is a pale blue-white, clearly bluer than the Sun’s white.
From: Calculated blackbody colour at 12,000 K Calculated visible-colour model
Colour clusters describe pixels in an image; they cannot identify a mineral, a gas or a physical temperature. Shares of pixels describe the sampled region of the image, not the object’s surface.
Colours from selected views
Palettes sampled from identified images and regions, or calculated from a documented model. These values describe each image or model, not one permanent colour of Rigel.
Calculated blackbody colour at 12,000 K
Calculated from this model · Calculated blackbody colour at 12,000 K
#C0D1FFRGB 192, 209, 255region average
See where these colours came from
Creative palettes inspired by Rigel
A design derived from the selected representation. It is not a scientific colour measurement. Each colour keeps the sampled colour it was made from.
Orion Blue
Inspired by this object
#35426CRGB 53, 66, 108from #C0D1FF#6373A1RGB 99, 115, 161from #C0D1FF#96A7D8RGB 150, 167, 216from #C0D1FF
Rigel’s calculated blue-white deepened into a cool blue.
Explore the views and the 3D model
Pick a colour from the image. Click or tap the picture to read a colour. Picked colours are yours, not catalogue samples.
Schematic sphere A plain sphere tinted with the anchor colour of the named view; it shows no surface detail and no measured shape. Objects are enlarged or scaled for inspection unless stated otherwise.
Use these colours
Every palette above opens in the palette generator. With JavaScript you can also add colours to your cosmic palette, save them, make a gradient or pattern, preview them in a design or a room (you choose which colour goes on which surface), check digital accessibility and export them. Each colour keeps the view and sample it came from.
Paint matches compare digital swatches for design inspiration. They are not physical equivalents of light from space. Edits create a new design palette. The original representation remains unchanged.
Questions about Rigel’s colours
Why is Rigel blue and Betelgeuse orange?
Hotter stars emit relatively more blue light. Rigel is about 12,000 K, Betelgeuse about 3,600 K.
Sources
- Quantitative spectroscopy of BA-type supergiants (Przybilla et al. 2006, A&A 445, 1099), table of basic properties — Astronomy & Astrophysics / arXiv
- Stars in an Exoplanet World — NASA
- CIE 1931 2° colour-matching functions (CIE 018:2019, Table 6) — CIE
- SIMBAD astronomical database — CDS, Strasbourg
Image credits
Images were resized once for the web; colours were measured from the published files (k-means in OKLab, pcke-oklab-kmeans-1); calculated colours use the CIE 1931 2° observer. Facts last reviewed 25 October 2026. Catalogue pcke-cosmos-2026-10-25, page revision c8f18aeca475. No ESA, ESO or NASA endorsement is implied.