Alpha Ophiuchi is known as Ras Alhague, The Head of the Serpent Holder. With a visual magnitude of 2.1 this white star is the brightest in this part of the heavens, while not competing with Vega and Altair.

Finding Ras Alhague should be quite easy. The star forms the southwestern tip of an equilateral triangle with Altair and Vega. There are a number of other relationships which you may find more convenient, such as approximiately midway between a line drawn from Arcturus to Altair: finding Ras Alhague.

Ras Alhague is the northern-most star in the asterism: binoculars.

As Ophiuchus is quite large, its principal stars are generally separated by several fields of view.

Beta, a yellow giant nearly as bright at 2.8, is to the south-southeast of Ras Alhague, about nine degrees, just out of one field of view.