95 Herculis, also named Bodu, is a double stellar system in the constellation

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 ...

, located 432

light-year A light-year, alternatively spelled light year (ly or lyr), is a unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equal to exactly , which is approximately 9.46 trillion km or 5.88 trillion mi. As defined by the International Astr ...

s from Earth.

Nomenclature

95 Herculis is the star's

Flamsteed designation A Flamsteed designation is a combination of a number and constellation name that uniquely identifies most naked eye stars in the 88 modern constellations, modern constellations visible from southern England. They are named after John Flamsteed, au ...

. This star, together with 93 Herculis,

102 Herculis 102 Herculis, also named Ramus, is a single star in the northern constellation of Hercules. It is visible to the naked eye as a faint, blue-white hued star with an apparent visual magnitude of 4.37. Based upon parallax measurements, it is ...

, and 109 Herculis, formed the now obsolete constellation of

Cerberus In Greek mythology, Cerberus ( or ; ''Kérberos'' ), often referred to as the hound of Hades, is a polycephaly, multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the Greek underworld, underworld to prevent the dead from leaving. He was the offspring o ...

. In

Chinese astronomy Astronomy in China has a long history stretching from the Shang dynasty, being refined over a period of more than 3,000 years. The Ancient China, ancient Chinese people have identified stars from 1300 BCE, as Chinese star names later categori ...

, 95 Herculis and 102 Herculis form the asterism Bó Dù (帛度, " Textile Ruler"). The

IAU Working Group on Star Names The International Astronomical Union (IAU) established a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) in May 2016 to catalog and standardize proper names for stars for the international astronomical community. It operates under Division C – Education ...

approved the name Bodu for this star on 17 June 2025 and it is now so entered in the IAU Catalog of Star Names.

Characteristics

From the naked eye, 95 Herculis appears as a single star shining at

apparent magnitude Apparent magnitude () is a measure of the Irradiance, brightness of a star, astronomical object or other celestial objects like artificial satellites. Its value depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance, and any extinction (astronomy), ...

4.31. However, when further scrutinized using a telescope, it is revealed to be a double star, with two components separated by 6.3

arcseconds A minute of arc, arcminute (abbreviated as arcmin), arc minute, or minute arc, denoted by the symbol , is a unit of angular measurement equal to of a degree. Since one degree is of a turn, or complete rotation, one arcminute is of a tu ...

. This system has a

color contrast Contrast is the difference in luminance or color that makes an object (or its representation in an image or display) visible against a background of different luminance or color. The human visual system is more sensitive to contrast than to absolu ...

due to the difference of each star's effective temperature. The brightest component, called 95 Herculis A, is a

white giant A giant star has a substantially larger radius and luminosity than a main-sequence (or ''dwarf'') star of the same surface temperature. They lie above the main sequence (luminosity class V in the Yerkes spectral classification) on the Hertzspr ...

subgiant A subgiant is a star that is brighter than a normal main-sequence star of the same spectral class, but not as bright as giant stars. The term subgiant is applied both to a particular spectral luminosity class and to a stage in the evolution ...

with an apparent magnitude of 4.8. This evolved star has 2.9 times more mass than the Sun, is 6.8 times wider, and is 167 times more luminous. Its

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 8,000 Kelvin give it a blue-white hue typical of

A-type star A type or type A may refer to: Science * A-type asteroid, a type of relatively uncommon inner-belt asteroids * A type blood, a type in the ABO blood group system * A-type inclusion, a type of cell inclusion * A-type potassium channel, a type of ...

s. It is spinning rapidly with an

projected rotational velocity Stellar rotation is the angular motion of a star about its axis. The rate of rotation can be measured from the spectrum of the star, or by timing the movements of active features on the surface. The rotation of a star produces an equatorial bu ...

of 233 km/s. The secondary is called 95 Herculis B, a yellow giant of apparent magnitude 5.1. It is the most evolved star in the pair, having reached helium burning stage and now converting carbon into oxygen, while 95 Herculis A is still in the transition from hydrogen burning to helium burning. Albeit fainter than 95 Her A, 95 Her B emmits a significant part of its luminosity in the

infrared Infrared (IR; sometimes called infrared light) is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than that of visible light but shorter than microwaves. The infrared spectral band begins with the waves that are just longer than those ...

, and hence the

bolometric luminosity Luminosity is an absolute measure of radiated electromagnetic energy per unit time, and is synonymous with the radiant power emitted by a light-emitting object. In astronomy, luminosity is the total amount of electromagnetic energy emitted per ...

is 194 times solar. It is 3.2 times more massive than the Sun and 19 times wider. The effective temperature of the star is 4,900 Kelvin.

Orbit

The

orbital elements Orbital elements are the parameters required to uniquely identify a specific orbit. In celestial mechanics these elements are considered in two-body systems using a Kepler orbit. There are many different ways to mathematically describe the same o ...

95 Herculis are not accurately known and no orbital motion has been detected. However, their

projected separation This glossary of astronomy is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to astronomy and cosmology, their sub-disciplines, and related fields. Astronomy is concerned with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outs ...

is calculated at 900 astronomical units, with an orbital period of at least 11,000 years.

References

{{Hercules (constellation) Binary stars Hercules (constellation) A-type subgiants G-type giants 6729/30 164668/9 088267 TIC objects Herculis, 095 Bodu

Nomenclature

Characteristics

Orbit

See also

References