Mu Herculis is a nearby star system about 27.1 light years from Earth in the constellation

Constellation

In modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms, patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky....

 Hercules

Hercules (constellation)

Hercules is a constellation named after Hercules, the Roman mythological hero adapted from the Greek hero Heracles. Hercules was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations today...

. Its main star, Mu Herculis A is fairly similar to the Sun

Sun

The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...

 although more highly evolved

Stellar evolution

Stellar evolution is the process by which a star undergoes a sequence of radical changes during its lifetime. Depending on the mass of the star, this lifetime ranges from only a few million years to trillions of years .Stellar evolution is not studied by observing the life of a single...

 with a tellar classification of G4 IV. Its mass is about 1.1 times that of the Sun, and it is beginning to expand to become a giant. The secondary component consists of a pair of stars that orbit about each other with a period of 43.2 years. Mu Herculis A and the binary pair B-C are separated by 286 AUs. The stars B-C are separated from each other by 11.4 AUs. Their orbit is quite elliptic (e=0.18) and both stars swing each other between 9.4 and 13.5 AUs.

Etymology

In the catalogue of stars in the Calendarium of Al Achsasi Al Mouakket, this star was designated Marfak Al Jathih Al Aisr, which was translated into Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 as Cubitum Sinistrum Ingeniculi, meaning the left elbow of kneeling man.

In Chinese

Chinese language

The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

, , meaning Left Wall of Heavenly Market Enclosure

Heavenly Market enclosure

Tian Shi Yuan, the Heavenly Market Enclosure , is one of the San Yuan or Three enclosures. Stars and constellations of this group are visible during late summer and early autumn in the Northern Hemisphere . The summer triangle lies directly to the northwest.-Asterisms:The asterisms are :...

, refers to an asterism which is represent eleven old states in China which is marking the left borderline of the enclosure, consisting of μ Herculis, δ Herculis

Delta Herculis

Delta Herculis is a fourth-magnitude star in the constellation Hercules. It has the traditional name Sarin....

, λ Herculis

Lambda Herculis

Lambda Herculis is a star inthe constellation Hercules.It has the traditional name Maasym .In Chinese, , meaning Left Wall of Heavenly Market Enclosure, refers to an asterism which is represent eleven old states in China which is marking the left borderline of the enclosure, consisting of λ...

, ο Herculis

Omicron Herculis

Omicron Herculis is a multiple star system in the constellation Hercules. It has the traditional name Atia and the Flamsteed designation 103 Herculis.- Properties :...

, 112 Herculis, ζ Aquilae

Zeta Aquilae

Zeta Aquilae is a triple star system in the constellation Aquila. It has the traditional names Deneb el Okab, from an Arabic term ذنب العقاب ðanab al-cuqāb meaning "the tail of the falcon", and the Mandarin names Woo and Yuë, derived from and represent the state Wu , an old state was located at...

, θ¹ Serpentis, η Serpentis

Eta Serpentis

Eta Serpentis is a binary star in the constellation Serpens. The primary, Eta Serpentis A, is an orange K-type giant with an apparent magnitude of +3.23. It has a distant 12th magnitude companion, Eta Serpentis B, 3 arcminutes away...

, ν Ophiuchi

Nu Ophiuchi

Nu Ophiuchi is a Class K0, third-magnitude star in the constellation Ophiuchus. Its closest stellar neighbour is the bright binary system Tau Ophiuchi, roughly 16.9 light years away from the star...

, ξ Serpentis

Xi Serpentis

Xi Serpentis is a triple star system in the constellation Serpens. The primary star, Xi Serpentis A, is a yellow-white F-type giant with an apparent magnitude of +3.54. It is a spectroscopic binary with an orbital period of 2.29 days. A 13th magnitude companion, Xi Serpentis B, is located 25...

 and η Ophiuchi

Eta Ophiuchi

Eta Ophiuchi, also known as η Oph or η Ophiuchi, is a star in the constellation Ophiuchus. It also has the traditional name Sabik....

. Consequently, μ Herculis itself is known as , represent Jiuhe (九河, lit. meaning nine rivers), possibly for Jiujiang

Jiujiang

Jiujiang , formerly transliterated Kiukiang, is a prefecture-level city located on the southern shores of the Yangtze River in northwest Jiangxi Province, China. It is the second-largest prefecture-level city in Jiangxi province, the largest one being Nanchang...

, the prefecture-level city in Jiangxi, China, which is the same literally meaning with Jiuhe.. From this Chinese title, the name Kew Ho was appeared

Star system

Star A is itself suspected to be a close binary with a low mass stellar or a large substellar companion, probably at 17.2 AUs in an elliptic orbit. Nevertheless the existence of such an object has still not been confirmed.

External links

• Jim Kaler's Stars, University of Illinois: MU HER (Mu Herculis)
• SolStation: Mu Hercules4