Star profile
Tau Herculis
Hot blue starWhat is Tau Herculis
τ Herculis is a blue-white subgiant 307 light-years away, set in the body of the celestial Kneeler. Its B5 IV spectrum places it among the hot, massive stars, with nearly five solar masses and 700 times the Sun's brightness. Though seemingly still, its light flickers slightly: a young variable not yet committed to its fate.
Where it is and when to see it
Tau Herculis lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is May: the Sun sits at the opposite point of the sky and the star culminates around midnight. How high it climbs above the horizon depends on the latitude you watch from.
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The signature wall
Stelvia's sky works like a signature wall: anyone can leave their name and a message on a real star, and that signature goes up on the map for everyone to read. Signing is free.
A signature without a lock can be replaced by someone else's. The lock makes the signature permanent and lets you choose a symbolic name for the star, always shown next to the star's catalogue identifier. How the lock works
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A public signature from a real person. The chosen name is a symbolic denomination within Stelvia, with no official standing or IAU recognition: the sky is not for sale and belongs to no one.
Astronomical data for Tau Herculis
- Constellation
- Hercules
- Apparent magnitude
- 3.91
- Distance
- 307.4 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 244.935° · Dec 46.313°
- Catalogue
- HIP 79992 · HD 147394
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Hercules
Hercules has 136 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- KornephorosBeta Herculis2.78
- RasalgethiAlpha 1 Herculis2.78
- Zeta Herculis2.81
- Omicron Herculis3.84
- 109 Herculis3.85
- Theta Herculis3.86
- Epsilon Herculis3.92
- Rho Herculis4.15