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Hercules
Herculis
Her
The Strongman

Introduction

The constellation of Hercules is one of the original 48 constellations plotted by 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy and remains today as one of the modern 88 constellations. Hercules is the 5th largest constellation and spans an impressive 1,225 square degrees of sky. However, despite its large apparent size it's rather faint. Although easily traceable under dark skies, the constellation can become elusive with just a hint of light pollution or when viewed under a moonlit sky.

The centrepiece of Hercules is a trapezoid shaped asterism commonly known as the Keystone. The four stars of the Keystone are Eta Herculis, Zeta Herculis, Epsilon Herculis and Pi Herculis. They are all between magnitudes 3 and 4 in brightness. The brightest of the four, Zeta Herculis, shines at magnitude + 2.81 and is the second brightest star in the constellation. Along with marginally brighter Kornephoros (Beta Herculis) these are the only two stars in Hercules above magnitude +3.0.

For deep sky enthusiasts Hercules contains a sprinkle of globular clusters, challenging planetary nebulae and a host of faint galaxies.

Hercules Star Chart

Hercules Star Chart - pdf format

Interesting Stars

Variable Star, Double Star

Rasalgethi (alpha Herculis - α Her) - is a red supergiant star, located at a distance of 380 light-years. With a diameter of 560 million kilometres (350 million miles) it is one of the largest stars known. It is so enormous, that if Rasalgethi located at the centre of our Solar System it would extend to 1.87 AU and swallow up the Earth and even Mars. Like most red giants it varies erratically - between magnitudes +3.1 and +3.9 - with an average brightness of about magnitude +3.5. The period is of the order of 100 days, although there are much longer variations that may last for about 6 years.

Rasalgethi is also a beautiful double star with a magnitude 5.4 blue-green companion separated by 4.7 arc seconds at a position angle of 103 degrees. Telescopically, even a small 60mm scope at medium magnifications will split the components, with the primary star displaying a very prominent orange colour and sometimes a hint of red. In contrast, the colour of the secondary star is much more difficult to ascertain. Often it looks just white, but on occasions it may seem blue-green or even blue-turquoise. Regardless of what colours you see, it's a truly striking combination.

Double Stars

Marsic (kappa Herculis - κ Her) - is a very nice double star easily visible in small telescopes. Both stars are remarkably similar. Kappa Herculis A at magnitude +5.1 is the brighter of the two and is a class G8 yellow giant star, separated by 27 arc seconds (PA of 15 degrees) from its companion, magnitude +6.2 K1 orange giant star Kappa Herculis B. However, there is some doubt about the authenticity of this double star. Recent age and distance measurements hint that this may just be an amazing chance alignment and not a true double star at all. Nether the less, it's a wonderful sight in telescopes of all sizes.

The distance of Kappa A Herculis is about 390 light-years while Kappa B Herculis may be up to 470 light-years away.

Zeta Herculis (ζ Her) - 35 light-years distance, is a testing double for large apertures. It's a rapid rotating binary with a period of 34.5 years that consists of a yellow primary and an orange companion of magnitudes +2.9 and +5.4 respectively. The separation is currently 1.1 arc seconds with a PA of 165 degrees and requires an aperture of at least 150mm (6-inch) to split the pair. Manage to do this and you will join a select group of observers.

Rho Herculis (ρ Her) - at 402 light-years away is a pretty double consisting of two white stars, easily resolvable in a small scopes at high magnifications. The components are of magnitudes +4.5 and +5.4, with a PA of 326 degrees and a separation 4.5 arc seconds.

95 Herculis / Struve 2264 – 470 light-years distance, is another beautiful double star consisting of two 5th magnitude suns. With a separation of 6.3 arc seconds (PA of 256 degrees) they are easily split in a small 60mm (2.4 inch) telescope at medium to high power. What is outstanding about this system is that it offers a stunning colour contrast. The stars have been described as gold and silver, yellow and blue and even apple green and cherry red by 19th century observer Admiral Symth.

Variable Star

OP Herculis – is a giant red M class star that varies between magnitude +5.9 and +6.7 over a period of 120 days. It is located about 1,000 light-years from Earth.

Nova

DQ Herculis - or Nova Herculis 1934 was an extremely bright slow nova that reached magnitude +1.3 in Hercules in December 1934 and remained at this brightness for almost 2 months. It is the prototype for a category of cataclysmic variable stars known as intermediate polars. Currently it is a dim speck of light at magnitude +15.2, barely perceivable with amateur instruments but it's worth looking in this area of the sky. You never know, you may be one of first to witness the next explosion.

Deep Sky

Globular Clusters

M13 - Of all of the deep sky objects in Hercules, one of them stands out above all and that is the spectacular showpiece globular cluster M13. It's universally acclaimed as the finest globular in the Northern Hemisphere and is easily found on the western side of the Keystone asterism, 2.5 degrees south of Eta Herculis along a line connecting Eta Herculis with Zeta Herculis. At magnitude +5.8, with an apparent size of 20 arc minutes, M13 is just about visible to the naked eye under a perfectly black sky. It's an easy binocular object where it forms a right-angled triangle with two 7th magnitude stars. Looking like a fuzzy out of focus star, it appears obviously non-stellar but without resolution. An 80mm telescope (3.1-inch) shows M13 as a uniform extended hazy disk. But it's with larger instruments, that M13's really shows its true glory. The clusters outer stars are easily resolved with a 150mm (6-inch) scope at medium to high magnifications. When viewed with even larger scopes, M13 is a breathtaking sight. A 250mm (10-inch) reflector under a dark sky with good transparency shows thousands of pinpoints across the whole face of M13. Push up the power, and look out for a couple of curious affects. First, many of the outer stars seemed to be arranged in long arcs weaving across the cluster face and secondly the distribution of the bright stars is not even. This can result in an optical illusion of apparent voids or relatively barren areas interspersed across the cluster. All in all, M13 is a very compact cluster of at least 300,000 stars, located at 25,100 light-years distance and with a spatial diameter of about 145 light-years. Like all globulars it is extremely old, the estimated age being of the order of 10 billion years.

Messier 13 - Great Hercules Globular Cluster (credit:- NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage STScI Aura)

M92 - Located nearly 10 degrees northeast of M13 in a relatively blank area of the sky is M92, another fine globular cluster. This superb object is often over-shadowed due to its more illustrious neighbour and would almost certainly rate higher on observation lists if it were located in a different area of the sky. Shining at magnitude +6.4 and spanning some 14 arc minutes across, M92 appears in telescopes as a slightly fainter and smaller version of M13. A 150mm (6-inch) telescope at high powers will show a number of stars with a 250mm (10-inch) scope revealing considerably more. Despite its smaller size, M92 is noticeably compact especially the core region, which is much more difficult to resolve than M13.

M92 is located 26,700 light-years distant and has a spatial diameter of 108 light-years.

Messier 92 - Globular Cluster (credit:- NASA/Hubble Heritage STScI Aura)

NGC 6229 – About 7 degrees northwest of M92 and 1.5 degrees north of magnitude +4.8 star 52 Herculis is NGC 6229 our third and final globular cluster in Hercules. At magnitude +9.4 and with an angular size of 4.5 arc minutes, this ball of stars is much fainter and smaller when compared to the other two. What is amazing about NGC 6229 is its vast distance from Earth. Estimated to lie almost 100,000 light-years awy, it's one of the furthest globular clusters that's readily visible with an amateur telescope. It can be glimpsed with a 100mm (4-inch) refractor but much easier with a 200mm (8-inch) scope. Even the largest amateur instruments can't resolve this globular. However, do take time to marvel at a cluster of stars that is as many light-years distant as the diameter of our own Milky Way galaxy.

Galaxies

NGC 6207 - is an unspectacular magnitude +11.6 compact spiral galaxy with a long axis of about 3 arc minutes and titled at about 45 degrees to our line of site. Nevertheless, this galaxy is imaged and observed much more than many galaxies of similar magnitude and size since it lies only 1/2 degree north-northeast of M13.

Visually, good skies and a 200mm (8-inch) telescope will pick out NGC 6207 but it isn't terrible impressive. The only details visible are a star like nucleus surrounded by a misty envelope of light. What is remarkable though, is that together with M13, NGC 6207 offers one of the sky's best extreme depths of view. The distance of NGC 6207 is estimated to range from 20 to 120 Million light-years and for calculation purposes if we assume a distance of 40 Million light-years, then NGC 6207 is approx. 1,600 times more distance than M13. Undoubtedly, this galaxy also contains its own globular clusters and if M13 surrounded NGC 6207 instead of our own galaxy it would appear as an extremely dim, almost invisible cluster at magnitude +22 when viewed from Earth.

NGC 6181 - is a faint compact magnitude +11.9 spiral galaxy located just less than 2 degrees south of Kornephoros (Beta Hercules). It is very similar to NGC 6207 only slightly fainter and smaller. Viewed through a 200mm (8-inch) telescope at medium power, NGC 6181 appears as an extremely faint, elongated, diffuse patch of light with a central core that is best seen using averted vision.

NGC 6239 - is a very faint peculiar barred spiral galaxy without a distinct core. At magnitude +12.3, with dimensions of only 2.5 x 1.1 arc minutes, it's a challenging object for visual observers. A 250mm (10-inch) or preferably larger scope is recommended. Even then, this galaxy appears as an elongated unspectacular diffuse streak of light, surrounded by an arc of 6th magnitude stars.

NGC 6482 - at magnitude +11.4 is marginally the brightest of all Hercules faint galaxies. Unlike the previous galaxies we have looked at, this one is different. It's elliptical, appearing as a uniform halo that brightens towards the centre. A minimum aperture of 200mm (8-inch) is recommended for viewing NGC 6482. Larger apertures show the galaxy more clearly without additional detail. It measures 2.1 x 1.8 arc minutes.

Planetary Nebulae

Hercules contains 3 bright planetary nebulae that are visible with backyard telescopes, NGC 6210, NGC 6058 and IC 4593.

NGC 6210 – is the brightest and the best of Hercules planetary nebulae. It's bright, elongated, quite small at about 20 x 16 arc seconds but very pretty with an easy to view central star. NGC 6210 shines at magnitude +8.8 and is an excellent target for small scopes due to its high surface brightness and ability to take high magnifications. With a 80mm (3.1-inch) refractor it's easy discernible from the background star field, appearing as an out of focus star that forms a triangle with two other stars of almost equal brightness. Bump up the magnification and this lovely planetary can appear blue, blue-green or even aqua in colour. Like many planetary nebulae it can exhibit a blinking effect especially when switching between direct and averted vision.

Larger instruments reveal more details, including a faint outer shell. It's possible, under nights of good seeing, to spot the magnitude +12.7 central star with a 150mm (6-inch) scope.

NGC 6210 - Planetary Nebula (credit:- ESA/NASA/Hubble Heritage STScI Aura)

IC 4593 – sometimes known as the White Eyed Pea, is a magnitude +10.7 planetary nebula. It lies at the southwestern section of Hercules near the border with Serpens Caput. This planetary is easily visible with a 200mm (8-inch) telescope, appearing as a small, slightly elongated out of focus star. Like NGC 6210, IC 4593 can also appear to noticeably blink when switching between direct vision and averted vision. At magnitude +11.3, the central star is relatively bright and therefore easy to see. In larger apertures and/or times of good seeing, IC 4953 may appear as a halo of green nebulosity surrounding the white as white central star, hence the name White Eyed Pea.

The diameter of IC 4953 is about 12 arc seconds.

IC 4593 - Planetary Nebula (credit:- ESA/NASA/Hubble Heritage STScI Aura)

NGC 6058 – at magnitude +12.9 is the faintest of our 3 planetary nebulae in Hercules. Since it also lies in a rather barren patch of sky near the Hercules / Corona Borealis border, it's a challenging object to located and observe. This planetary is certainly one for larger scopes with a minimum 300mm (12 inch) aperture recommended. Even in larger instruments, NGC 6058 only appears as a small pale ghostly patch of light about 25 arc seconds across. It looks slightly elongated, predominantly grey although a bluish tint may be observable. The central star shines at magnitude +13.5 and is visible in a 300mm (12 inch) telescope. NGC 6058 is tucked in the middle of an isosceles triangle of 9th and 10th magnitude stars.

Hercules Star Data Table

Henry Draper Catalogue(HD) Hipparcos Catalogue(HIP) Bayer
Flamsteed
Name RA (J2000) DEC (J2000) Visual Mag. Var. Var. Mag. Range Period(days) Double Sep. PA Mag. Primary,Sec
14500179043Kappa Herculis7Marsic16h 08m 05s17d 02m 49s5---------Y27155.1,6.2
15068081693Zeta Herculis40Zeta Herculis16h 41m 17s31d 36m 07s2.81---------Y1.11652.9,5.4
15601484345Alpha Herculis64Rasalgethi17h 14m 39s14d 23m 25s3.48Y3.1->3.9100(var)Y4.71033.5(var),5.4
15777885112Rho Herculis75Rho Herculis17h 23m 41s37d 08m 45s4.15---------Y4.53264.5,5.4
16399087850------OP Herculis17h 56m 49s45d 21m 03s6.22Y5.85->6.73120------------
16466888267---9595 Herculis18h 01m 30s21d 35m 45s4.26---------Y6.32564.9,5.2
NOVA Her 1934---------DQ Herculis18h 07m 30s45d 51m 33s15.16Y(Nova)1.3->15.2---------------

Hercules Deep Sky Data Table

Messier NGC IC Name Type RA (J2000) DEC (J2000) Visual Magnitude Apparent Size Distance(light-years) Actual Size(light-years)
136205---Great Hercules Globular ClusterGlobular Cluster16h 41m 42s36d 27m 41s5.820'25,100145
926341------Globular Cluster17h 17m 07s43d 08m 10s6.414'26,700108
---6229------Globular Cluster16h 46m 59s47d 31m 38s9.44.5'99,100130
---6207------Spiral Galaxy (Sc)16h 43m 04s36d 49m 57s11.63.0' x 1.3'40,000,00035,000 x 15,000
---6181------Spiral Galaxy (Sc)16h 32m 21s19d 49m 36s11.92.6' x 1.3'115,000,00087,000 x 43,500
---6239------Barred Spiral Galaxy (Sb)16h 50m 05s42d 44m 23s12.32.5' x 1.1'40,000,00029,000 x 13,000
---6482------Elliptical Galaxy (E)17h 51m 49s23d 04m 19s11.42.1' x 1.8'170,000,000105,000 x 90,000
---6210------Planetary Nebula16h 44m 29s23d 48m 00s8.820" x 16"6,5000.6 x 0.5
------4593White Eyed PeaPlanetary Nebula16h 11m 45s12d 04m 17s10.712"6,8000.4
---6058------Planetary Nebula16h 04m 27s40d 40m 56s12.925" x 20"9,5001.1 x 0.9