OPHIUCHUS

(Abbreviation: Oph).

This constellation is sometimes known as Serpentarius. It commemorates. Æsculapius, son of Apollo and Coronis, who became so skilled in medicine that he was even able to restore the dead to life. To avoid depopulation of the underworld, Jupiter reluctantly disposed of Æsculapius with a thunderbolt, but relented sufficiently to place him in the sky. Ophiuchus is a very large constellation, with twelve stars above the fourth magnitude:

BRIGHTEST STARS

STAR	R.A.			DEC			MAG.	ABS.MAG.	SPEC	DIST.PC
STAR	H	M	S	o	‘	“	MAG.	ABS.MAG.	SPEC	DIST.PC
1 d	16	14	20.6	-03	41	39	2.74	-0.5	M1	43 YED PRIOR
2 Î	16	18	19.1	-04	41	33	3.24	0.3	G8	32 YED POST L/Y 140
4 y	16	24	06.6	-20	02	15	4.50	0.2	KO	72
5 r	16	25	34.9	-23	26	46	4.59	-2.5	B2	230
7 c	16	27	01.3	-18	27	23	4v	-2.5v	B2p	150
3 u	16	27	48.1	-08	22	18	4.63	1.4	A2	21
10 l	16	30	54.7	+01	59	02	3.82	1.2	A1	33 MARFIK
8 f	16	31	08.2	-16	36	46	4.28	0.3	G8	63
9 w	16	32	08.0	-21	27	59	4.45	1.7	A7	19
13 z	16	37	09.4	-10	34	02	2.56	-4.4	O9.5	170 HAN L/Y500
20	16	49	49.9	-10	46	59	4.65	0.7	F6	56
25 i	16	54	00.4	+10	09	55	4.38	-0.6	B8	99
27 k	16	57	40.0	+09	22	30	3.20	-0.1	K2	36
35 h	17	10	22.5	-15	43	30	2.43	1.4	A2	18 SABIK L/Y 70
36	17	15	20.7	-26	36	04	4.31	6.4	KO	5.4
41	17	16	36.5	-00	26	43	4.73	-0.1	K2	93
40 x	17	21	00.0	-21	06	46	4.39	3.0	F2	19
42 q	17	22	00.4	-24	59	58	3.27	-3.0	B2	180
44 b	17	26	22.1	-24	10	31	4.17	2.5	A9	25
49 r	17	26	30.7	+04	08	25	4.34	-2.3	K3	190
47	17	26	37.7	-05	05	12	4.54	3.1	F3	21
45 d	17	27	21.1	-29	52	01	4.29	2.1	F5	27
55 a	17	34	55.9	+12	33	36	2.08	0.3	A5	19 RA SALHAGUE L/Y 58
57 m	17	37	50.5	-08	07	08	4.62	-0.2	B8	73
60 b	17	43	28.2	+04	34	02	2.77	-0.1	K2	37 CHELEB L/Y 124
62 g	17	47	53.4	+02	42	26	3.75	0.6	AO	35
64 n	17	59	01.4	-09	46	25	3.34	0.2	KO	42
66	18	00	15.5	+04	22	07	4.64	-2.5	B2	250
67	18	00	38.5	+02	55	53	3.97	-5.7	B5	740
68	18	01	45.0	+01	18	19	4.45	1.2	A1	45
70 p	18	05	27.2	+02	29	58	4.03	5.7	KO	5.1
71	18	07	18.2	+08	44	02	4.64	1.8	G8	34
72	18	07	20.8	+09	33	50	3.73	1.9	A4	28

DOUBLES

STAR	R.A.			DEC			MAGS.	P.A.	DIST.”
STAR	H	M	S	o	‘	“	MAGS.	P.A.	DIST.”
5 r	16	25	34.9	-23	26	46	5.2,5.9	347	SLOW BINARY
69 t	18	03	04.8	-08	10	49	5.3,6.0	270	BINARY
70 p	18	05	27.2	+02	29	58	4.3,6.0	060	BINARY, 88 YEARS

VARIABLES

STAR	R.A.		DEC		RANGE	PERIOD,D.	SPEC	TYPE
STAR	H	M	o	‘	RANGE	PERIOD,D.	SPEC	TYPE
V	16	23.9	-12	19	7.3---11.0	298	N	MIRA
7 c	16	27.0	-18	27	4.1---5.0	-	B2p	NOVALIKE
R	17	04.9	-16	02	7.0---13.6	302	M	MIRA
U	17	14.0	+01	16	5.8---6.5	1.68	B5	ECLIPSING ALGOL
Z	17	17.0	+01	34	7.6---13.2	349	M	MIRA
Y	17	50.0	-06	08	7.0---7.8	17.1	F-G	CEPHEID
RY	18	14.1	+03	40	7.6---13.8	150	M	MIRA
X	18	36.0	+08	47	5.9---9.2	334	M	MIRA
RS	17	47.5	-06	42	5.2---12.2	-	Op	RECURRENT NOVA (1898, 1933, 1958)

CLUSTERS AND NEBULÆ

OBJECT	R.A		DEC		TYPE	NOTES
OBJECT	H	M	o	‘	TYPE	NOTES
I 4603-4	16	22.3	-23	20	NEBULA	REGION OF r OPH
NGC 6171 M.107	16	29.7	-12	57	GLOBULAR	MAG.9.2 (‘EXTRA’MESSIER OBJECT
NGC 6218 M.12	16	44.6	-01	52	GLOBULAR	MAG.6.6
NGC 6254 M.10	16	54.5	-04	02	GLOBULAR	MAG.6.7
NGC 6266 M.62	16	58.1	-30	03	GLOBULAR	MAG.6.6
NGC 6273 M.19	16	59.5	-26	11	GLOBULAR	MAG.6.6
NGC 6287	17	02.1	-24	41	GLOBULAR	MAG.9.7
NGC 6293	17	07.1	-26	30	GLOBULAR	MAG.8.4
NGC 6333 M.9	17	16.2	-18	28	GLOBULAR	MAG.7.3
NGC 6356	17	20.7	-17	46	GLOBULAR	MAG.8.7
NGC 66369	17	26.3	-23	44	PLANETARY	MAG.9.9; CENTRAL STAR MAG.17
NGC 6402 M.14	17	35.0	-03	13	GLOBULAR	MAG.8.0
I 4665	17	43.8	+05	44	OPEN CLUSTER	MAG.6. RATHER SPARSE
NGC 6572 å6	18	10.2	+06	50	PLANETARY	MAG.9.6; CENTRAL STAR MAG.12
NGC 6633	18	25.1	+06	32	OPEN CLUSTER	MAG.5. ABOUT 65 STARS