A hanging hero in the heavens
Even though we’re in the closing weeks of summer, the great, but faint, constellation Hercules the Hero is still with us, hanging upside down high in the early evening western Butler sky.
It’s certainly not the brightest of constellations, but Hercules is one of my favorites, mainly because of its great story and a great star cluster that lies within it. Hercules is supposed to outline the figure of a mighty hero in Greek mythology, but to me it looks more like a giant fancy handwritten capital “H” (for Hercules).
It’s fairly easy to find. As soon as it’s dark enough in the evening, face west and look for the brightest star you can see close to the overhead zenith. That’s the star Vega, one of the brightest stars in the early evening sky right now.
Look about 20 degrees below Vega, or about two of your fist-widths held at arm’s length, for four moderately bright stars that form a diagonally oriented trapezoid. You should be able to see it, unless there’s a lot of light pollution where you are. That trapezoid is in the center of Hercules right about where you’d join the two sides of the letter “H.”
The best telescope target in Hercules is on the southwest or lower right side of the trapezoid. That’s where you’ll find one of the jewels of the sky, the great Hercules cluster, astronomically known as Messier object 13, or M13 for short.
If you’re stargazing in the dark skies way out in the boonies you may see a faint smudge with your naked eye, but with a good pair of binoculars or — even better — a telescope, you’ll see a really gorgeous spherical cluster of stars, known as a globular cluster. This is the best one in our skies.
Astronomers estimate it’s over 22,000 light-years away, which is nearly 130 quadrillion miles. There are over 500,000 stars crammed in an area near 850 trillion miles wide, and who knows how many planets!
Through even a moderate telescope, you can see some of the individual stars at the edge. As it is with all telescopic objects though, look at the cluster for extended periods of time through the eyepiece of your scope to let your eyes adjust to the darkness of the field.
Back in 1974, a complex radio transmission was sent from the now-destroyed Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico toward M13 in the hope of reaching an alien civilization. Astronomers figured that since there are so many stars and planets in that area, there’s a better chance of reaching someone. The only problem is that if someone responds from M13, we won’t know for over 44,000 years.
In Greek mythology, Hercules was a mighty man of nearly all muscle, but he also had a big heart, at least for most of his life. When he was a teenager he fell in love with the beautiful — but conniving — Princess Megara.
They were married soon after they met, but the honeymoon didn’t last very long. Arguments between them were easy to come by, and it seemed to Hercules that there was nothing he could do to please her. She picked and picked at him until Hercules blew his stack and temporarily lost his sanity. With his mighty hand he choked Princess Megara and all her attendants.
Immediately after the murders, Hercules came to his senses and realized the extent of his horrible deeds. He was beyond sick with guilt and shame and turned himself in, leaving his fate up to Eurystheus, the king of Mycenae. The wise and just king was totally devastated by the loss of his daughter, Megara, but accepted that his son-in-law was truly sorry for his crime. Nonetheless, Hercules had to be punished, so Eurystheus assigned Hercules to twelve great labors that he had to perform to atone for his crime.
The first of his tasks was to slay Leo the Lion, the king of the kings of all beasts. Using all of his strength and brains, he slew the monster lion and went on to complete all of his other labors.
Zeus, the king of the gods, and his buddies on Mount Olympus rewarded Hercules at the time of his death for his great work by placing his body in the heavens as the constellation we see through the summer and early fall. They didn’t want Hercules to receive full honors though, because of his murder conviction, so they hung his body upside down in the heavens.
Leo the mighty lion also earned a place among the stars. Unfortunately, this late in the summer Leo is already below the horizon by the time twilight ends, but it is one of those few constellations that really resembles what it’s supposed to be.
Again, even if you have a small telescope, check out one of the summer jewels of the sky, the globular cluster M13. It’s so special!
For extra credit train your telescope a little over 5 degrees, or about half the width of your fist held at arm’s length, straight above M13 and you have a good chance of finding another globular cluster, M92. It’s not quite as bright or as big as M13, but it’s still very nice.
Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He is also the author of “Stars: a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations,” published by Adventure Publications and available at bookstores and at adventurepublications.net. Contact him at mikewlynch@comcast.net.
