Star profile
99 Herculis
What is 99 Herculis
99 Herculis is one of the closest stars in the Hercules catalogue: barely 51 light-years away, near enough that a beam of light could complete the trip within a single human life. It is a yellow-white F-type star, a touch hotter and brighter than the Sun. The glow that paints it now in the sky was born around 1975 —the era of Apollo-Soyuz— and has watched the whole modern space age unfold along its way.
Where it is and when to see it
99 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 69° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 80° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 26° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere north of 59° S.
It ranks no. 45 in brightness among the 136 stars of Hercules in our catalogue. To find it, start from Kornephoros, the brightest: it lies about 23° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 51 years ago.
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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 99 Herculis
- Constellation
- Hercules
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.05
- Distance
- 51.0 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 271.756° · Dec 30.562°
- Catalogue
- HIP 88745 · HD 165908
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
- HIP 887885.00
- HIP 848335.01
- 51 Herculis5.03
- HIP 839475.07
- 87 Herculis5.09