Page:The Music of the Spheres.djvu/187





The brilliant white light of Rigel on Orion's foot shines in charming contrast to the pink-tinged Betelgeuse which lies upon his shoulder.

Rigel is a young star but not as young as Betelgeuse, for Betelgeuse, like ruddy Antares, is among the youngest of the stars. It has been many hundred million years since Rigel was as big and red as Betelgeuse now is. Rigel belongs to a group which includes the hottest of all the stars and even at a distance of at least 450 light years, it still appears so brilliant that it is one of our brightest stars. It has been estimated that in actual luminosity it exceeds our sun about 13,000 times.