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A fifth-magnitude star in the far north of Orion, 71 Orionis is one of a group of stars that traditionally outline the end of the Hunter's upraised club. It falls far northward of Orion's famous Belt in the sky, so that its brightest neighbours are the stars that mark the feet of the Twins represented by the constellation of Gemini.
71 Orionis is a main sequence or dwarf star, though somewhat hotter and more luminous than the Sun. It belongs to the bright yellow F-type classification, producing some three times as much light energy as the Sun, and being about 1.4 times the Sun's diameter. It lies at a distance of some 71 light years from the Solar System, and is noted as having a significant proper motion across the sky. The star is receding from the Sun at a rate of 34 kilometres per second.
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