Theta Herculis is a single,

variable star A variable star is a star whose brightness as seen from Earth (its apparent magnitude) changes with time. This variation may be caused by a change in emitted light or by something partly blocking the light, so variable stars are classified as ...

in the northern

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the e ...

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

. This object is visible to the naked eye as a faint, orange-hued star with an

apparent visual magnitude Apparent magnitude () is a measure of the brightness of a star or other astronomical object observed from Earth. An object's apparent magnitude depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance from Earth, and any extinction of the object's lig ...

of 3.851. Based upon

parallax Parallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight and is measured by the angle or semi-angle of inclination between those two lines. Due to foreshortening, nearby objects ...

measurements, it is located around 750

light year A light-year, alternatively spelled light year, is a large unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equivalent to about 9.46 trillion kilometers (), or 5.88 trillion miles ().One trillion here is taken to be 1012 ...

s away from the Sun. The star is advancing toward the Earth with a heliocentric

radial velocity The radial velocity or line-of-sight velocity, also known as radial speed or range rate, of a target with respect to an observer is the temporal rate of change, rate of change of the distance or Slant range, range between the two points. It is e ...

of –28 km/s. This is an aging K-type

bright giant A giant star is a star with substantially larger radius and luminosity than a main-sequence (or ''dwarf'') star of the same surface temperature.Giant star, entry in ''Astronomy Encyclopedia'', ed. Patrick Moore, New York: Oxford University Press ...

with a

stellar classification In astronomy, stellar classification is the classification of stars based on their stellar spectrum, spectral characteristics. Electromagnetic radiation from the star is analyzed by splitting it with a Prism (optics), prism or diffraction grati ...

of K1IIaCN2, where the suffix notation indicates a strong overabundance of CN in the

spectrum A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors i ...

. The brightness variations of this star was first noticed in 1935 by M. Fedtke and confirmed by Erich Przybyllok and Kurt Walter the same year. French astronomer Paul Muller then classified Theta Herculis as an irregular variable with a range of magnitudes between 3.7 and 4.1 and a periodicity of roughly 8–9 days. The star is about 130 million years old with 4.94 times the

mass of the Sun The solar mass () is a standard unit of mass in astronomy, equal to approximately . It is often used to indicate the masses of other stars, as well as stellar clusters, nebulae, galaxies and black holes. It is approximately equal to the mass ...

. With the hydrogen at its

core Core or cores may refer to: Science and technology * Core (anatomy), everything except the appendages * Core (manufacturing), used in casting and molding * Core (optical fiber), the signal-carrying portion of an optical fiber * Core, the central ...

exhausted, the star has expanded to 90 times the Sun's radius. It is radiating 2,406 times the

luminosity of the Sun The solar luminosity (), is a unit of radiant flux (power emitted in the form of photons) conventionally used by astronomers to measure the luminosity of stars, galaxies and other celestial objects in terms of the output of the Sun. One nominal s ...

from its enlarged

photosphere The photosphere is a star's outer shell from which light is radiated. The term itself is derived from Ancient Greek roots, φῶς, φωτός/''phos, photos'' meaning "light" and σφαῖρα/''sphaira'' meaning "sphere", in reference to it ...

at an

effective temperature The effective temperature of a body such as a star or planet is the temperature of a black body that would emit the same total amount of electromagnetic radiation. Effective temperature is often used as an estimate of a body's surface temperature ...

of 4,266 K.

Nomenclature and etymology

''θ Herculis'' is the

Bayer designation A Bayer designation is a stellar designation in which a specific star is identified by a Greek or Latin letter followed by the genitive form of its parent constellation's Latin name. The original list of Bayer designations contained 1,564 stars. ...

, Latinised to Theta Herculis, abbreviated to θ Her or Theta Her. In the ''Calendarium of Al Achsasi Al Mouakket'', this star was designated ''Rekbet al Jathih al Aisr'', which was translated into

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

as ''Genu Sinistrum Ingeniculi'', meaning ''the left knee of the kneeling man''. The traditional name ''Rukbalgethi Genubi'' that is encountered in various texts is etymologically similar to the stars Ruchbah and

Zubenelgenubi Alpha Librae (α Librae, abbreviated Alpha Lib, α Lib) is a double star and, despite its 'alpha' designation, it is the second-brightest star system (or star) in the constellation of Libra. The two components are designated α¹ Librae ...

, the term "ruchbah" meaning "knee" while "genubi" signifies "southern"—hence the "southern knee", a meaning which can be gleaned more easily by looking at the accompanying constellation map. In

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

, (), meaning '' Celestial Discipline'', refers to an asterism consisting of θ Herculis, ξ Coronae Borealis, ζ Herculis, ε Herculis, 59 Herculis, 61 Herculis,

68 Herculis 68 Herculis is a triple star system located around 950 light-years away from the Sun in the Northern celestial hemisphere, northern constellation of Hercules (constellation), Hercules. In the astronomical community it is often refe ...

and HD 160054. Consequently, the

Chinese name Chinese names or Chinese personal names are names used by individuals from Greater China and other parts of the Chinese-speaking world throughout East and Southeast Asia (ESEA). In addition, many names used in Japan, Korea and Vietnam are often a ...

for θ Herculis itself is (, en, the Ninth Star of Celestial Discipline.)
AEEA (Activities of Exhibition and Education in Astronomy) 天文教育資訊網 2006 年 6 月 26 日
/ref> It was also ''Tien Ke'', Heaven's Record.

References

External links

*Spacedude's Constellation map

{{DEFAULTSORT:Theta Herculis K-type bright giants Suspected variables Hercules (constellation) Herculis, theta BD+37 2982 Herculis, 091 163770 087808 6695 Rukbalgethi Genubi