95 Herculis

95 Herculis, also called Bodu, is a binary star system in the constellation Hercules, about 432 light-years away. Its two stars show a clear color contrast: the primary shines blue-white, while the secondary appears yellow. The system was once part of the now-defunct constellation Cerberus, along with 93, 102, and 109 Herculis. In Chinese astronomy, 95 Herculis and 102 Herculis form the asterism Bó Dù, meaning "Textile Ruler." The name Bodu was officially assigned to 95 Herculis A by the IAU in June 2025.

To the naked eye, the system looks like a single star of magnitude 4.31. Through a telescope, it splits into two components separated by 6.3 arcseconds. The primary, 95 Herculis A, is a white giant or subgiant with magnitude 4.8. It has 3.1 times the Sun’s mass, six times its diameter, and shines with 156 times its luminosity.

Its surface temperature of 8,211 K gives it a blue-white hue, and it spins fast, with a projected rotational velocity of 233 km/s. The secondary, 95 Herculis B, is a yellow giant of magnitude 5.1.

It is more evolved than the primary, having reached the helium-burning stage, while the primary is still transitioning from hydrogen to helium burning. Although visually fainter, 95 Her B emits much of its energy in the infrared, giving it a bolometric luminosity 172 times that of the Sun. It has 3.2 solar masses and is 16.5 times wider than the Sun, with a temperature of 5,037 K.

The orbital details of the pair are poorly known, and no orbital motion has been detected. Their projected separation is about 900 astronomical units, implying an orbital period of at least 11,000 years.