Star profile
52 Herculis
Variable starWhat is 52 Herculis
52 Herculis burns about 180 light-years away, a white A-type star set into the body of the celestial hero. It belongs to the rare family of chemically peculiar variables: its atmosphere holds a strong magnetic field that gathers unusual elements into stellar spots, and its brightness shifts gently in time with its rotation. Each northern summer it returns among the stars that trace the kneeling silhouette of Hercules.
Where it is and when to see it
52 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, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it never sets and culminates about 84° up.
- From New York it culminates about 85° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 10° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere north of 44° S.
It ranks no. 32 in brightness among the 136 stars of Hercules in our catalogue. To find it, start from Kornephoros, the brightest: it lies about 25° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 180 years ago.
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Astronomical data for 52 Herculis
- Constellation
- Hercules
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.82
- Distance
- 180.2 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 252.309° · Dec 45.983°
- Catalogue
- HIP 82321 · HD 152107
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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
- 93 Herculis4.67
- Upsilon Herculis4.72
- 68 Herculis4.80
- 30 Herculis4.83
- 29 Herculis4.84