Talk:Hercules (constellation)

Glory of Hera

I don't like the translation of Herakles as "glory of Hera". It is accurate, but confusing in this context, because it's not clear that it is the mere literal meaning of the name. I prefer the old explanation "the hero".

However I don't dare to revert without knowing thirds' opinions. – Torsten Bronger 19:19, 28 Feb 2004 (UTC)

I changed it because I was not sure that Hercules meant hero in any sense other than Heracles being a hero. But I could like to change it back, too. — Sverdrup (talk) 20:37, 28 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Don't get me wrong: Although I didn't know so far, Heracles of course means "glory of Hera". But I think that this is very special information. The description of the constellation in this article should use a concise catchphrase for Heracles, and this is "the hero" in my opinion. It is even worth a thought to translate it to English with "Hercules, the hero". (I don't know, but I don't believe that "Cassiopeia" means "queen" for example.)

That's reasonable, and approximately what I though when typing "the hero" first. I'll change it back. — Sverdrup (talk) 22:16, 28 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Was there any discussion of this move? Hercules (constellation) seems much better to me. john k 22:53, 29 Aug 2004 (UTC)

I agree with you. – Torsten Bronger 10:35, 31 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Vandalised

This article has been vandalised by 199.216.204.250.

== Hercules ==

In my science class we had to choose and reserch a constellation so I chose Hercules.

Problematic formatting

The following two sections read poorly and appear to have originally been combined differently. In particular, the 2nd paragraph of the 1st section (placed in bold) appears to refer to elements in the 2nd section. However, I'm not correcting it because I don't know which visualization is being referred to: RandomCritic 18:30, 22 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Mythology

Hercules (Roman, Herakles in Greek mythology) was the demigod son of Zeus and Alcmene. One of the most widely known of the Greek heroes, he is best known for his superhuman strength, strong emotions, quickness to act, and often poorly thought out plans. Many stories are told of his life, the most important of which is the story of The Twelve Labours.

However, such visualisation was much later, as some parts require quite faint stars to be included, including those which have Flamsteed numbers but not Bayer designations. Earlier views of the constellation held it to be various things, predominantly a stag. Together with the constellation Sagitta, and the association of this area of the sky (the Zodiac of Scorpio) with Artemis, this may be the origin of the myth of the Cerynian Hind, one of The Twelve Labours of Herakles.

Graphic visualization

The stars of the constellation Hercules can be connected in an alternative way, which graphically shows the hero in an athletic pose and holding a club.

The hero's head is traced by a quadrangle of stars: π Her, η Her, ζ Her and ε Her known as the "Keystone" asterism. This quadrangle lies between two very bright stars: Vega in the constellation Lyra and α CrB (Gemma, or Alphecca) in the constellation Corona Borealis.

The hero's right leg contains two bright stars of the third magnitude: α Her (Ras Algethi) and δ Her (Sarin). The latter is the right knee.

The hero's left leg contains dimmer stars of the fourth magnitude which do not have Bayer designations but which do have Flamsteed numbers.

The star β Her belongs to the hero's outstretched right hand, and is also called Kornephoros.

The Globular Cluster M13 lies on the top of the hero's head, between the stars η Her and ζ Her. It is dim, but may be detected by the unaided eye on a very clear night. unsigned post manually signed by User:Rursus

Interesting! But don't use it in the articles. There's a long tradition of depicting constellations a certain way from 200 BC to today. The star names are named after those traditional depictions, H.A. Reys childish and pretty unnatural depictions disrupts the recognition of the constellations and confuses more than it adds. Rursus dixit. (^mbork³!) 12:18, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

File:Sidney Hall - Urania's Mirror - Hercules and Corona Borealis.jpg to appear as POTD soon

Hello! This is a note to let the editors of this article know that File:Sidney Hall - Urania's Mirror - Hercules and Corona Borealis.jpg will be appearing as picture of the day on July 6, 2016. You can view and edit the POTD blurb at Template:POTD/2016-07-06. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page. — Chris Woodrich (talk) 23:58, 20 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Picture of the day

Hercules is a constellation named after Hercules, the Roman mythological hero adapted from the Greek hero Heracles. Here he is shown holding Cerberus, a former constellation now included within Hercules. One of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, Hercules is the fifth largest of the 88 modern constellations.

This illustration comes from Urania's Mirror, a set of 32 astronomical star chart cards first published in November 1824. The figure of Hercules appears upside down in the sky relative to neighbouring constellations, such as Corona Borealis.Lithograph: Sidney Hall; restoration: Adam Cuerden

Archive – More featured pictures...

HD164595b

Is a planet in a starsystem that is currently talked about in the news (with the 11 GHz signal SETI). I did some research and found it to be in constellation Hercules... http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/DisplayOverview/nph-DisplayOverview?objname=HD+164595+b&type=CONFIRMED_PLANET Perhaps it needs mentioning? I'm sure people will want to see it mentioned. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.104.35.244 (talk) 15:13, 30 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

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Brightest globular cluster in the northern hemisphere

In the article is written that M13 is the brightest globular cluster in the northern hemisphere. However, Messier 5 is slightly brighter (M13 is mag 5.8 [1], while M5 is mag 5.6 [2]) and located north of the celestial equator. C messier (talk) 17:08, 30 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Dionysius of Halicarnassus "quote"

The story by Dionysius of Halicarnassus isn't supported by the original text. It was added in this edit, and appended with the comment "The story, among others, is described by Dionysius of Halicarnassus and Hyginus" in this edit.

Dionysius of Halicarnassus mentions the myth (Roman Antiquities 1.42, in Loeb), but doesn't connect it with the constellation. De astronomia (attributed to Gaius Julius Hyginus) connects the same myth to the constellation, but I can't find any public domain translations. Both cite Aeschylus' Prometheus Unbound (a lost play).

So what's now presented as a quote from Dionysius of Halicarnassus, looks like it's a retelling of the myth, drawn from various sources, which was connected to Hercules either by Aeschylus or De astronomia. I'll try to rewrite it to explain this. --Yodin^T 12:38, 5 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]