A sibling of our Sun, in Hercules
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Jamie Dillon, DDK
Sep 25, 2025, 3:40:17 AM (11 days ago) Sep 25
to The Astronomy Connection (TAC)
Had fun at CalStar looking, not for the first time, at a particular star, and showing it off to several buddies. HD 162826.
It's a star in Hercules that was identified positively back in 2014 as a sibling of our Sun, formed in the same long-dispersed nebula 4.5 billion years ago. That's sure from its chemical signature of this star and its motion thru the Galaxy. It's the only one we've found so far. Clusters of newly formed stars disperse way before 4.5 billion years go by.
And it’s naked eye, not far east of M92. One of a close set of 3 stars, the brightest of which is on the charts as 90 Her. The solar sibling is the westernmost of that set, opposite the bright 90 Her star. A K-type star, 1.15 times the mass of our Sun.
Outside a possible other member in Pavo that was studied in 2018, this is the only sibling that we’ve found so far. Fun to gawk at.
Here’s a handy finderchart from S&T
It's a star in Hercules that was identified positively back in 2014 as a sibling of our Sun, formed in the same long-dispersed nebula 4.5 billion years ago. That's sure from its chemical signature of this star and its motion thru the Galaxy. It's the only one we've found so far. Clusters of newly formed stars disperse way before 4.5 billion years go by.
And it’s naked eye, not far east of M92. One of a close set of 3 stars, the brightest of which is on the charts as 90 Her. The solar sibling is the westernmost of that set, opposite the bright 90 Her star. A K-type star, 1.15 times the mass of our Sun.
Outside a possible other member in Pavo that was studied in 2018, this is the only sibling that we’ve found so far. Fun to gawk at.
Here’s a handy finderchart from S&T
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