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: 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 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
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
- 93 Herculis4.67
- Upsilon Herculis4.72
- 68 Herculis4.80
- 30 Herculis4.83
- 29 Herculis4.84