Rigel is approximately 864.3 light-years away from Earth. This great distance helps to highlight how much energy Rigel releases as exemplified by it being the seventh-brightest star in the night sky despite being so far away.

Is Rigel in the Andromeda Galaxy?

Rigel, the bright blue star at Orion's foot, is about 800 light-years away. Even further away is the Orion Nebula, more than 1,300 light years away. ... This faint smudge is the Andromeda Galaxy, the nearest spiral galaxy to our own Milky Way Galaxy, and is 2.5 million light-years away.

Is Rigel moving toward or away from Earth?

The star is moving 0.50 ± 0.25 milliarcseconds/year towards the north and 1.31 ± 0.34 milliarcseconds/year east if we saw them in the horizon.