Star profile
104 Herculis
Variable starWhat is 104 Herculis
104 Herculis is a variable M-type red giant 545 light-years away, set within the torso of the Hero. Its light is not steady —it pulses gently, as if breathing slowly on timescales that humble the human calendar. The deep red of its surface, far cooler than the Sun's, betrays a star in the final great chapter of its biography.
Where it is and when to see it
104 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 70° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 81° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 25° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere north of 59° S.
It ranks no. 39 in brightness among the 136 stars of Hercules in our catalogue. To find it, start from Kornephoros, the brightest: it lies about 25° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 540 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 104 Herculis
- Constellation
- Hercules
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.96
- Distance
- 544.6 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 272.976° · Dec 31.405°
- Catalogue
- HIP 89172 · HD 167006
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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
- 60 Herculis4.89
- 106 Herculis4.92
- 98 Herculis4.96
- HIP 834304.97
- MarsicKappa Herculis5.00