33Ophiuchus, The Serpent Bearer

NAME: Ophiuchus (oh-FEE-uh-kuss)

SEASON: Early summer

CULMINATION: midnight, 11 June

ABBREVIATION: Oph

GENITIVE: Ophiuchi (oh-FEE-uh-kee)

NEIGHBORS: Aql, Her, Lib, Sco, Ser, Sgr

BINOCULAR OBJECTS: NGC 6171 (M 107), NGC 6218 (M 12), NGC 6254 (M 10), NGC 6266 (M 62), NGC 6273 (M 19), NGC 6333 (M 9), NGC 6402 (M 14), IC 4665, NGC 6633

URBAN OBJECTS: NGC 6218 (M 12), NGC 6254 (M 10), NGC 6266 (M 62), IC 4665, NGC 663

Ophiuchus is a large equatorial constellation that ranks 11th in size among the 88 constellations. Ophiuchus covers 948 square degrees of the celestial sphere, or about 2.3%. Ophiuchus is a moderately bright constellation, containing two second-magnitude and seven third-magnitude stars. Despite that, ...

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