72 Herculis [SEP] constellation
72 Herculis
72 Herculis is a main sequence dwarf star in the constellation Hercules. The Flamsteed designation for this star comes from the publication "Historia Coelestis Britannica" by John Flamsteed. It is the 72nd star in Flamsteed's list of stars in Hercules.
Based on its spectral classification of G0 V, it is similar in mass and luminosity to the Sun. Parallax measurements show this star to be about 47 light years from the Solar System. The photosphere shows an effective temperature of 5,625 °K and a metallicity (
". The traditional name "Rukbalgethi Genubi" that is encountered in various texts is etymologically similar to the stars Ruchbah and Zubenelgenubi, the term "ruchbah" meaning "knee" while "genubi" signifies "southern"—hence the "southern knee", a meaning which can be gleaned more easily by looking at the accompanying constellation map.
In Chinese, (), meaning "Celestial Discipline", refers to an asterism consisting of θ Herculis, ξ Coronae Borealis, ζ Herculis, ε Herculis, 59 Herculis, 61 Herculis