Hercules, or "There?", "No, next to it", "There?", "Kinda"

..........Hercules is a constellation of fairly dim stars surrounded by brighter constellations. One might consider just skipping over these stars, but there are some beautiful binocular and telescope objects located in this constellation (the subject of my next post), and these objects make the hunt worth the wait. These objects will also trigger the start of what I am modestly) calling the "Leckenby list". There are many different lists of deep sky objects, the most well known of those being the Messier Catalog, but much of my observing history has been from suburbia, where a lot of even the Messier objects are invisible in a small telescope, and where there are a number of other cool deep sky objects that Messier, for one reason or another, did not see fit to put on his list. There are other lists, such as the Caldwell list, that look at deep sky objects that are in the same range as the Messier list, just not recorded by him, and some bright, wide objects that these lists have considered as too obvious or outside their scope (rim shot), such as double stars. The Leckenby List is my list of cool sky objects that can be seen with a small telescope in suburbia. You don't have to go through what I did, hours of effort to find some object that I've been promised is there, only to discover that I am looking at it, I just can't see it.

.....It is the purpose of a later run through the sky to go into more depth on the story and legends behind the constellations. In any event, I will go under the assumption that if something makes Disney, the basics are fairly well understood.

.....(Although this movie left out Hercules killing his wife and children in a drunken rage. They must be saving that for the sequel.)




.....As far as that goes, if you're going to look for one of the popularizations of Hercules, I'd seek out the Steve Reeves movie versions from the late 1950's. These were brought to my attention by the Mystery Science Theater 3000 versions of Hercules and Hercules unchained, but if your standards are a little relaxed (three beers, or it is 4 AM in the morning, or some such) these movies are as good as any from the era and from the genre. Better than, say, Clash of the Titans (either version).


.....The constellation of Hercules can be found between the constellations of Corona Borealis (or, "The Kite-Eating Tree", if I can get that to catch on) which is relatively easy to find, and the constellation Lyra, easy to find due to the presence of the bright star Vega. (Vega and Arcturus are two of the brightest stars in the sky, and Hercules is roughly between them.) Find the constellation by looking for the two rhomboids that make up the central body of Hercules. The northern one, smaller and a little easier to find, is called the "Keystone", and this will be our starting point for two bright globular clusters in this area.

.....Looking at this, you may find the presence of Hercules less than obvious. That is, looking at this once you finally find it in the sky. (No slight is intended. I've been observing the sky since I was seven, and Hercules is on of those constellations that I have to find, as opposed to just jumping out at me. In fact, on the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode in which Joel and the 'bots watch the first Hercules movie, they comment on how most of the constellations don't seem to make sense, and Tom Servo attempts to reframe the constellations in terms of modern sensibilities. (You can watch it at this link; the relevant segment starts at about 3:09.) In honor of Tom's work, I'm going to rechristen this constellation into our modern form (joining the Kite and the Kite-Eating Tree) as something that these stars resemble as much as they do any version of Hercules, I give you ...

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Pablo Picasso's Cubist masterpiece, "Guernica"