Star profile

Pi Herculis

3D likeness based on its real data · class K · ~4,200 K

What is Pi Herculis

Pi Herculis marks the northeastern corner of the Keystone, the bright quadrilateral every observer recognizes as the heart of Hercules. Beneath its orange hue hides a luminous giant: about 64 times the Sun's radius and over a thousand times its light, seen from 367 light-years away. A slow six-hundred-day pulse betrays the deep breathing of a star that has already exhausted the hydrogen in its core.

Where it is and when to see it

Pi 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 June, when it culminates around midnight.

From London it culminates about 75° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 86° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 19° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 53° S.

It ranks no. 5 in brightness among the 136 stars of Hercules in our catalogue. To find it, start from Kornephoros, the brightest: it lies about 18° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 380 years ago.

Find it on the sky map

It opens in your browser. Free, no account, nothing to install.

Leave your signature on Pi Herculis

Your name and a message go up on the map for everyone to read. Signing is free.

Without a lock, someone else can replace your signature. How the lock works

We'll ask for an email to confirm it's you, no password.

Write my signature

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 Pi Herculis

Constellation: Hercules
Apparent magnitude: 3.16
Distance: 376.7 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 258.762° · Dec 36.809°
Catalogue: HIP 84380 · HD 156283

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.

See all 136 stars in Hercules