Star profile
Rho Herculis
Hot blue starWhat is Rho Herculis
Rho Herculis burns with the intense blue of type-B stars —hot and young by cosmic standards. It belongs to the framework of Hercules, the constellation Ptolemy called simply «the kneeler». Its light crosses nearly four hundred years of empty space to reach our telescopes, having set out when Galileo was still pointing his first lenses at the sky.
Where it is and when to see it
Rho 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 76° 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. 16 in brightness among the 136 stars of Hercules in our catalogue. To find it, start from Kornephoros, the brightest: it lies about 19° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 390 years ago.
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Astronomical data for Rho Herculis
- Constellation
- Hercules
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.15
- Distance
- 393.5 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 260.921° · Dec 37.146°
- Catalogue
- HIP 85112 · HD 157778
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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
- Theta Herculis3.86
- Tau Herculis3.91
- Epsilon Herculis3.92
- 110 Herculis4.19
- Sigma Herculis4.20