Star profile
51 Herculis
What is 51 Herculis
51 Herculis belongs to that crowd of orange stars that yields only to the patient observer. A K-type giant about 698 light-years away, its light departed around the 14th century, while the Black Death was sweeping across Europe. Discreet, cool and golden, it sits in a dense field of stars and is recognised by its warm tone once the eye adapts to the darkness of Hercules.
Where it is and when to see it
51 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 culminates about 63° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 74° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 31° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere north of 65° S.
It ranks no. 44 in brightness among the 136 stars of Hercules in our catalogue. To find it, start from Kornephoros, the brightest: it lies about 6° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 700 years ago.
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Astronomical data for 51 Herculis
- Constellation
- Hercules
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.03
- Distance
- 698.5 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 252.939° · Dec 24.656°
- Catalogue
- HIP 82504 · HD 152326
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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
- MarsicKappa Herculis5.00
- HIP 887885.00
- HIP 848335.01
- 99 Herculis5.05
- HIP 839475.07