Constellation, Serpent Bearer
Ophiuchus
A man holding a great snake, usually seen as Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine. The Sun passes through its southern part, though it is not one of the twelve zodiac signs.
From New York on October 13, 2026, the centre of Ophiuchus rises at 11:07 AM, is highest at 4:45 PM (41° above the horizon in the S) and sets at 10:19 PM.
In the 3D sky
The sky over New York turned towards Ophiuchus. Drag to look around.
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Evening visibility over the year
Height of the constellation’s centre above the horizon at 10 pm local time on the 15th of each month, from New York. Above about 30° it is well placed.
Name and history
Ophiuchus comes from the Greek Ophiouchos, ‘serpent holder’. He grips the snake Serpens. The Greeks saw him as Asclepius, son of Apollo. Asclepius grew so skilled that he could bring the dead back to life. In one story he saw a snake revive another with a herb, and he used the same herb to raise a drowned boy. This is why he holds a snake, a symbol of healing because snakes shed their skin and seem reborn. Hades complained that the dead were no longer arriving. So Zeus struck Asclepius with a thunderbolt, then placed him among the stars.
An older Latin name, Serpentarius, appears on some early atlases. The brightest star, Rasalhague, comes from Arabic for ‘the head of the serpent holder’. In 1604 a new star blazed out near his right ankle. Johannes Kepler described it. It is the most recent supernova in our own galaxy known to have been seen with the naked eye. The Sun crosses its southern part in the first half of December, so it is sometimes called a thirteenth sign of the zodiac.
Sources: Ian Ridpath, Star Tales: Ophiuchus
Brightest stars
| Star | Designation | Magnitude | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rasalhague | α Oph | 2.08 | 49 light-years |
| Sabik | η Oph | 2.43 | 88 light-years |
| ζ Oph | ζ Oph | 2.54 | 366 light-years |
| Yed Prior | δ Oph | 2.73 | 171 light-years |
| Cebalrai | β Oph | 2.76 | 82 light-years |
| κ Oph | κ Oph | 3.19 | 92 light-years |
| Yed Posterior | ε Oph | 3.23 | 106 light-years |
| θ Oph | θ Oph | 3.27 | 436 light-years |
| ν Oph | ν Oph | 3.32 | 151 light-years |
| 3.40 | 84 light-years |
Facts
| Area | about 949 square degrees (12 of 88) |
|---|---|
| IAU abbreviation | Oph |
| Sky | Near the celestial equator, visible from both hemispheres |
| Origin | One of the 48 constellations listed in Ptolemy’s Almagest, about AD 150 |
| Stars brighter than magnitude 5 | 40 |
| Centre (J2000) | 17.3 h, -8° |
Deep-sky objects
Galaxies, clusters and nebulae brighter than magnitude 9, from the OpenNGC catalogue. Most need binoculars or a telescope and a dark sky.
Boundaries: International Astronomical Union, via Astronomy Engine. Areas are computed from the boundaries by sampling (within about one percent). Names and lines: Stellarium. Stars: HYG Database. Deep-sky objects: OpenNGC. Calculated with Astronomy Engine, an open-source library verified against the US Naval Observatory and NASA JPL. Data sources
How to use this page
Choose your place and a night at the top. The answer and the 3D view show where the constellation is, when it is highest and whether it rises at all from where you are. The chart shows its stars and lines, and the tables list its brightest stars and the deep-sky objects inside it.
Frequently asked questions
When is a constellation best seen?
When it is highest in a dark sky, which the page gives for the night you pick. Each constellation is best placed in a particular season, because the stars rise about four minutes earlier every night.
Why can I not see a constellation from my place?
Constellations far south of the celestial equator never rise from northern places, and those far north never rise from southern ones. The page says when this is the case.
What are the constellation boundaries?
The International Astronomical Union divides the sky into 88 areas with official boundaries. The stick figures are only a drawing aid, the boundaries say which constellation a point in the sky belongs to.
Related guides
- How to learn the constellationsStart with one bright pattern you cannot miss, use it as a signpost to its neighbours, and come back a month later: the sky will have turned, and you will know a little more of it.
- Altitude and azimuth: finding things in the skyTwo angles tell you exactly where to look: which direction, and how high.
- Light pollution and dark skies: the Bortle scaleFrom a city centre you can count a few dozen stars. From a truly dark site you can count a few thousand, with the Milky Way bright enough to cast a shadow. The Bortle scale puts a number on the difference.
- Binoculars for stargazing: what to buy and what to look atA pair of 7x50 or 10x50 binoculars shows the craters of the Moon, the moons of Jupiter, dozens of star clusters and the Andromeda Galaxy, for a fraction of the cost of a telescope.