As the sun sets and if you look west, the same direction the sunset, the two top stars of Gemini have shifted further north and a bit further south from where Gemini was is the constellation Leo. According to EarthkSky.org, Leo drifts progressively west in the early evening sky and can be viewed in the evening until July. By late July or early August, it begins to fade into the sunset, as the previous constellations. However, Leo will return to the eastern predawn sky in late September or October.
Most know that Leo is also a zodiac constellation and represents the lion. Greek astronomer Ptolemy first catalogued the constellation in the second century, along with all the other constellations of the zodiac. It is one of the oldest constellations in the sky. Archaeological evidence suggests that Mesopotamians had a constellation similar to Leo as early as 4000 B.C. The Persians knew the constellation as Shir or Ser, Babylonians called it UR.GU.LA (“the great lion”), Syrians knew it as Aryo and the Turks as Artan.
The Greeks associated Leo with the Nemean lion, the beast killed by Heracles during the first of his 12 labors. The lion lived in a cave in Nemea, a town located to the southwest of Corinth. It was killing the local inhabitants and could not be killed because its skin was impenetrable by any weapon. Heracles could not kill the lion with arrows, so he trapped the lion in its cave, grappled with the beast and eventually choked it to death. He used the lion’s claws to cut off its pelt and then wore the pelt as a cloak, complete with the lion’s head. The cloak both protected Heracles and made him appear even more fearsome. Both Eratosthenes and Hyginus wrote that the lion was placed among the constellations because it was the king of beasts.
While looking west after the sunsets, one of the first stars to appear is Regulus. It is the first star in the Leo constellation to appear. Babylonians knew this star as “the star that stands at the lion’s breast” or the King Star and marks the beast’s heart. According to SeaSky.org, it is the 22nd brightest star in the sky and in ancient times was seen as the guardian of the heavens.
The second star in the Leo constellation to appear is Denebola, according to Constellation-Guide.com, it marks the tip of the lion’s tail. The entire constellation is made of nine stars, where the sickle represents the lion’s head. Another bright star, Algieba lies on the lion’s neck, even though its name means “the forehead.” Zosma marks the lion’s rump.
The Leo constellation is one that both amateur and advanced stargazers can enjoy. Again, according to SeaSky.org, Leo contains five Messier objects, all of them galaxies. M65 is an intermediate spiral galaxy with visible dark dust lanes. M66 is another intermediate spiral galaxy located approximately 95,000 light years from Earth. M95 is a barred spiral galaxy that is nearly faces us. M96 is another intermediate spiral galaxy. M105 is an elliptical galaxy that is known to have a supermassive black hole at its center. Other notable deep sky objects include an enormous cloud of hydrogen and helium known as the Leo Ring, a spiral galaxy called the Hamburger Galaxy (NGC 3628) and a number of other dim galaxies that can only be seen with large telescopes.
Look Up appears in the weekend edition. If you have any astronomical questions or facts you’d like to share email news@smdailyjournal.com with the subject line “Look Up.”
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.