Orion is packed with stars that are much bigger, brighter, and heavier than the Sun. But only one of them is likely to draw hisses from Harry Potter fans: Bellatrix. Its name comes from Latin, and means “female warrior.” The name was applied to one of Harry Potter’s nastiest foes – Bellatrix Lestrange.
Regardless of its name, the star itself is impressive. It’s almost eight times the mass of the Sun, so it “burns” its nuclear fuel in a hurry. As a result, the surface of Bellatrix is tens of thousands of degrees hotter than the Sun. Combined with its great size, that makes the star thousands of times brighter than the Sun.
Because of its high-speed reactions, Bellatrix won’t live very long. The star is about 25 million years old – just half of one percent the age of the Sun. Yet it will expire in a few million years. It’s probably not massive enough to explode as a supernova. Instead, it will expel its outer layers in a more gentle process. That will leave a small, hot, dense corpse – a feeble ending for a powerful star.
Orion is in the west and southwest at nightfall. Look for its three-star belt, parallel to the horizon. The hunter’s brightest stars, Betelgeuse and Rigel, stand above and below the belt. Bellatrix is the next-brightest, to the upper right of the belt. It’s among the brightest stars in the night sky.
Script by Damond Benningfield