This is a great time of year to spot the constellation Leo the Lion. The stars in Leo are bright enough to spot no matter where you live, even through city lights. Enjoy this update of a previous post!
 |
| Johannes Hevelius created one of the best loved collections of constellation drawings in 1687, called Firmamentum Sobiescianum sive Uranographia. The beautiful images are now in the common domain. You can find most of them here. |
To find Leo, first find the Big Dipper in the northeast. The two stars in the end of its cup point north toward the North Star, Polaris. If you follow those same stars south, you will come to a backwards question mark, or sickle, in the southeastern sky. The stars in the backwards question mark represent the head and front leg of Leo. See images below, showing the sky at 9 PM.
 |
| Click on the image to enlarge. Try to spot the Big Dipper and Leo before looking at the labeled picture below! |
 |
| Can you see the backwards question mark that forms Leo's head and front leg? Image Credit: Stellarium and me. |
Jupiter is visible in Leo right now, looking like an exceptionally bright star. Jupiter is visible when the Sun sets and most of the night.
Leo is a spring constellation. It first becomes visible in late winter, and will stay in the evening sky until mid summer.
The brightest star in Leo is Regulus, located at the bottom tip of the backwards question mark. Regulus is the 22nd brightest star in the night sky, and is Latin for 'prince' or 'little king'. The Arabic name for Regulus was Qalb al-Asad, which means 'heart of the lion'. Even though it looks like Regulus is only one star, it is actually a multiple star system consisting of four stars that are organized in two pairs. The star system is about 79 light years away from Earth, making it fairly close to us, in the grand scale of the galaxy.
Most of the constellations known to western civilization are passed down from Greek and Roman legends. In both cultures' tales, Leo was put in the sky because the lion is the king of the beasts. In one version of the story, Leo was the lion of Nemea, who terrorized the town's inhabitants. Hercules (who can be found in the spring and summer skies) was tasked to kill the mighty lion as the first of his twelve labors. His arrows bounced off Leo's impenetrable hide, but Hercules was undeterred. He trapped the lion in its cave, wrestling with the lion until he choked Leo to death. Later Hercules used the lion's pelt as a cloak, adding to his prowess.
Learn how to spot Leo and other constellations in our Stars Over Peoria show in the Dome at the Peoria Riverfront Museum, showing at 2:30 every day we are open. Find the full show schedule and descriptions here. Good luck trying to find Leo from your backyard!
 |
| Don't miss Yuri's Night! Celebrate humanity's exploration of space with trivia and beer under the stars! |
No comments:
Post a Comment