Hercules (abbr. Her, gen. Herculis)
A mythical hero famed for his 12 labors; a very large but unspectacular
northern constellation. It contains the
Keystone asterism, named after its shape, which is made by four of the main
stars in Hercules – Epsilon, Zeta (Ruticulus), Eta, and Pi Her. See
below for details of the constellation's brightest stars and interesting
deep sky objects.
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Hercules. © 2003 Torsten Bronger.
Copied here under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
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| Stars brighter than magnitude 4.0 |
| Star |
Visual
mag. |
Abs.
mag. |
Spectral
type |
Distance
(lt-yr) |
R.A. (h m s) |
Dec. ( ° ' '' ) |
| Beta (Kornephorus) |
2.78 |
-0.50 |
G8IIIa |
148 |
16 30 13 |
+21 29 22 |
| Zeta (Rutilicus) |
2.81 |
2.64 |
F9IV |
35 |
16 41 17 |
+31 36 10 |
| Alpha (Rasalgethi) |
3.00 |
-0.02 |
M5Ib-II |
382 |
17 14 39 |
+14 23 25 |
| Delta (Sarin) |
3.12 |
1.21 |
A3IV |
79 |
17 15 02 |
+24 50 21 |
| Pi |
3.16 |
-2.10 |
K3IIab |
367 |
17 15 03 |
+36 48 33 |
| Mu |
3.42 |
3.80 |
G5IV |
27 |
17 46 27 |
+27 43 15 |
| Nu |
3.48 |
0.80 |
G8II |
112 |
16 42 54 |
+38 55 20 |
| Xi |
3.70 |
0.20 |
G8III |
163 |
17 57 46 |
+29 14 52 |
| Gamma |
3.70 |
0.61 |
K0III |
135 |
16 21 55 |
+19 09 11 |
| Iota |
3.82 |
-2.09 |
B3V |
495 |
17 39 28 |
+46 00 23 |
| Omicron |
3.84 |
-1.30 |
B9.5V |
347 |
18 07 32 |
+28 45 45 |
| 109 |
3.85 |
0.87 |
K2.5IIIab |
128 |
18 23 42 |
+21 46 11 |
| Theta |
3.86 |
-2.70 |
K1IIaCN |
670 |
17 56 15 |
+37 15 02 |
| Tau |
3.91 |
-1.02 |
B5IV |
315 |
16 19 44 |
+46 18 48 |
| Epsilon |
3.92 |
0.43 |
A0V |
163 |
17 00 17 |
+30 55 35 |
| Other objects of interest |
| Name |
Type of Object |
Notes |
| Hercules X-1 |
star |
See separate entry |
| NGC 6210 |
planetary nebula |
A bright inner ring surrounded by a faint outer ring.
Magnitude 9.7; diameter 13" × 20" (inner), 20"
× 43" (outer); R.A. 16h 44.5m, Dec. +23° 49' |
| Great
Cluster in Hercules |
globular cluster |
M13 (NGC 6205). See separate entry |
| M92 (NGC 6341) |
globular cluster |
NGC 5139. See separate entry |
Related categories
NOTABLE
STARS NEBULAE
AND STAR CLUSTERS GALAXIES
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