Mintaka, a blue giant star in Orion

Mintaka (HIP 25930)

Mintaka is a blue giant star in the constellation Orion. At 1,080 light years away, it is the 74th brightest star in the Earth's sky, where it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 2.25. Mintaka is a component of a multiple-star system. It is moving through the Galaxy at a speed of 18.6 km/s relative to the Sun and is part of the Orion Molecular Cloud and ASCC 18/20 and ASCC 21 and ASCC 19 and Collinder 70 moving groups. Its projected Galactic orbit carries it between 25,100 and 30,600 light years from the center of the Galaxy.

Sky position: RA 5h 32.0m, Dec -0° 18'

Common designations: Mintaka, Delta Orionis, 34 Orionis, HIP 25930, HD 36486

Learn how to find naked-eye stars with:

Stars of the Northern Hemisphere
Deluxe Astronomy Poster Brightest stars in Orion:
(list all)

Rank	Mag.	Star
1	0.18	Rigel
2	0.45	Betelgeuse
3	1.64	Bellatrix
4	1.69	Alnilam
5	1.74	Alnitak
6	2.07	Saiph

7

| 2.25

) Mintaka

Rank	Mag.	Star
8	2.75	Hatsya
9	3.19	Tabit
10	3.35	Eta Orionis
11	3.39	Heka
12	3.59	Tau Orionis
13	3.68	Pi-4 Orionis
14	3.71	Pi-5 Orionis
15	3.77	Sigma Orionis
16	4.06	Omicron-2 Orionis
17	4.09	Phi-2 Orionis

Location of Mintaka circled Map detail from Stars of the Northern Hemisphere
Hover over other bright stars to identify or click to jump.

Galactic Orbit of Mintaka
(compared to the Sun)

E

ccentricity: 10.0% vs. 16.0%

Angle φ : 5.2°vs. 26.0°

Semi-major axis : 8,541 pc vs. 8,686 pc

Semi-minor axis: 8,498 pc vs. 8,574 pc

Focus-to-center

: 853 pcvs. 1,388 pc

Semilatus rectum : 8,455 pc vs. 8,464 pc

Perigalacticon: 7,687 pc vs. 7,297 pc

Apogalacticon

: 9,394 pcvs. 10,074 pc
  Some Tabulated XHIP Data for Mintaka
(see also: SIMBAD)

Astrometry
2007A&A...474..653V

Position	Proper Motion
Right Ascension:	83.00166550° ±0.46 mas	0.64 ±0.56 mas/yr.
Declination:	-0.29909343° ±0.26 mas	-0.69 ±0.27 mas/yr.
Galactic Longitude:	203.85591431°	0.91 mas/yr.
Galactic Latitude:	-17.73973679°	0.23 mas/yr.

Parallax: 4.71 ± 0.58 mas

Spectrography

Spectral Type: O9III 1983ApJ...272..182A.

Radial Velocity: 18.50 ±0.50 km/s [A rating] 2004A&A...424..727P.
This star is a spectroscopic binary with a solved orbit.

Iron Abundance [Fe/H]: n/a

Photometry
 

band	magnitude	Abs. Mag.
U	0.96	-6.64
B	2.08	-5.53
V	2.25	-5.35
R
I	2.41	-5.20
J	2.74	-4.86
H	2.98	-4.62
K	3.02	-4.58

B-V: -0.17 V-I: -0.16

Derivations

Heliocentric distance: 331.14 pc (fitted to cluster)

Galactocentric distance: 7,690 pc

Transverse velocity: 1.5 km/s

3D heliocentric position and motion:

toward:	Galactic center	Galactic rotation	North Galactic Pole
Position ( X, Y, Z)	-288.5 pc	-127.6 pc	-100.9 pc
Velocity (U, V, W)	-15.6 km/s	-8.5 km/s	-5.3 km/s