Being one of the few constellations that resembles its namesake, Leo is a well-known constellation. The Big Dipper’s “pointer stars,” which point to Leo, make it rather simple to locate.
March does really arrive like a lion. Around the spring equinox, the constellation becomes visible in the Northern Hemisphere, and it is simple to identify through May. Leo is situated halfway between Virgo and Cancer.
In This Article...
When can you catch Leo the Lion on television?
Star patterns called constellations create fictitious images in the sky. The International Astronomical Union has given official names to 88 constellations. On both sides of the globe, they fill the entire sky, and many of them are the subject of tales and stories from all over the world.
Only specific times of the year can you see particular constellations. Leo is a fantastic constellation to spot in the northern hemisphere’s springtime night sky, especially around April and May.
Leo is visible for the majority of the night after emerging in the early evening. Leo will stop visible in the evening sky by late July or early August and won’t reappear until late September or early October, just before dawn.
Where in the sky is Leo right now?
One of the 13 zodiac constellations with the best visibility is Leo the lion. Start by locating the prominent star Regulus, then locate The Sickle, a peculiar collection of stars that resembles a backwards question mark. The Lion’s mane is represented by this design. In Greek mythology, Leo stood in for the ferocious Nemean Lion that Heracles, the heroic hero of Greece, slew.
From the perspective of the Northern Hemisphere, the Lion appears in the early evening sky around the March equinox and is a fair-weather companion.
Leo the Lion can be seen as soon as night falls and is visible until the early hours of the morning, making late March, April, and May excellent months for this task. Keep in mind that you’re looking for a pattern of reversed question marks. The brightest star in Leo, Regulus, is a brilliant blue-white beauty that may be found at the base of the shape of a reversed question mark. Regulus shows the heart of the lion.
The lion’s hindquarters and tail are represented by a triangle of stars in eastern Leo. Denebola, an Arabic word that means the Lion’s Tail, is the name of the triangle’s brightest star.
Like other stars, those in Leo rise and set in the same location in the sky at intervals of around four minutes each day or about two hours per month. Around 10 p.m. local time (11 p.m. local daylight saving time) in early April, the constellation Leo reaches its highest peak for the night and begins to set below the western horizon (5 a.m. local daylight saving time). Leo reaches its peak for the night at 8 p.m. local time around about May 1. (9 p.m. local daylight saving time). Also in early May, at around 2 a.m. local time, the majestic Lion starts to set in the west (3 a.m. daylight saving time). By June, Leo will be descending in the west at dusk.
Even while Leo moves steadily westward in the early evening sky over the course of the months, the Lion can still be seen until July. The Lion starts to disappear into the distance by late July or early August. The sun will be in front of Leo from around August 10 through September 16. In late September or October, the constellation makes a comeback to the eastern morning sky.
Leo the Lion is always visible if you are familiar with the Big Dipper star pattern or asterism. The Big Dipper in March appears to be standing on its handle in the northeastern sky at dusk. When it gets dark in April, look higher in the northeast sky for the Big Dipper, and when it gets dark in May, look higher in the north, above Polaris, the North Star, for the almost-upside-down Big Dipper. Then, locate the Big Dipper’s two pointer stars, or the two outside stars in the bowl of the constellation. The North Star, Polaris, is indicated by a line drawn between these stars that extends northward. The line points toward the stars in Leo in the other direction.
To gain a sense of the telescopic riches that are contained within the borders of this constellation, look at the chart above.
When the atmosphere is stable, a tiny telescope can see the double star Algieba or Leonis. A tumultuous, rather than a stable, environment is indicated by the stars’ erratic twinkling. On the other hand, if the stars are hardly flashing or not at all, try your luck using a telescope to separate Algieba, which seems to the unaided eye to be a single star, into its two bright component stars.
M65 and M66, a pair of closely related galaxies in Leo, also offer a tempting focus for the telescope. You might be able to view both M65 and M66 in one field of view with a low-powered telescope.
The sun has traditionally been linked to Leo the Lion. Because the sun rose in front of Leo at the time of the annual flooding of the Nile River, the lifeblood of this agricultural nation, the ancient Egyptians held Leo in the highest regard.
It is believed that the numerous fountains with lion heads created by Greek and Roman architects represent the life-giving waters produced by the sun’s position in Leo.
Leo, one of the three fire signs of the Zodiac, is the sun’s sign.
Leo the Lion is a character in many tales. The first labor of Heracles (also known as Hercules) with the infamous Nemean Lion and the Roman author Ovid’s depiction of the tragic love story between Pyramus and Thisbe are arguably the two more well-known stories.
In conclusion, Leo the Lion begins to show in the evening sky in late March and is one of the easiest zodiacal constellations to locate. It is linked to Greek mythology’s Nemean lion.
Where do I find the constellation Leo?
At 947 square degrees, Leo is the 12th-largest constellation in terms of size. It can be visible from latitudes between +90 and -65 in the northern hemisphere’s second quadrant (NQ2). Cancer, Coma Berenices, Crater, Hydra, Leo Minor, Lynx, Sextans, Ursa Major, and Virgo are the nearby constellations.
Messier 65 (M65, NGC 3623), Messier 66 (M66, NGC 3627), Messier 95 (M95, NGC 3351), Messier 96 (M96, NGC 3368), and Messier 105 are among the five Messier objects in Leo (M105, NGC 3379). 11 of its stars have identified planets.
Along with Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Virgo, Libra, Scorpius, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius, and Pisces, Leo is a member of the Zodiac family of constellations.
Regulus, Alpha Leonis, the brightest star in Leo, has an apparent magnitude of 1.35.
One of the fifteen equatorial constellations is Leo. There are 13 identified stars there. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has officially authorized the names Adhafera, Algieba, Alterf, Chertan, Denebola, Dingolay, Formosa, Moriah, Rasalas, Regulus, Sagarmatha, Subra, and Zosma for stars.
The constellation is connected to two meteor showers. The Leonids typically reach their annual peak on November 1718 and have a radiant close to the brilliant star Gamma Leonis. A brief shower called the January Leonids peaks between January 1 and January 7.
Does Leo appear in December?
Leo constellation is visible from October to May, however around April it can be seen high in the sky at 21:00:
- From February in the eastern sky through July in the western sky, early evening observers (before 21:00) can see the constellation. In April, the constellation Leo will be visible in the sky.
- From January in the east until June in the west, observers can spot the constellation throughout the middle of the evening (21:00-23:30). In March, the constellation Leo will be visible in the sky.
- From November in the eastern sky through May in the western sky, late-evening observers (after 23:30) can see the constellation. In January, Leo will be visible in the sky.
- From September in the eastern sky through February in the western sky, early-morning observers can spot the constellation. In December, Leo will be visible in the sky.
The constellation will gradually get brighter as time goes on, and the ranges below show when you can see it each month. The Leo constellation is located 10 to 25 degrees north of the equator. As a result, it will seem more north in the sky the farther south you are. Leo is seen in latitudes between +90 and -60 at its maximum range.
Leo from the UK can you see?
The good news is that there are several factors working in your favor if you are just beginning to observe the stars or want to look for Leo on a special occasion. Leo from the UK will be much simpler to locate for novice stargazers thanks to the vastness of this constellation and its abundance of bright stars.
In April, Leo is most visible in the UK, and it is advised to search for the lion at around 9 o’clock when there is little light pollution. A clear night will also be necessary. Get out of huge cities or towns and into the woods for your best chances of success. The UK has some fantastic locations that are ideal for stargazing and nighttime lion searches.
Is Leo in the northern horizon?
They directly point at the North Star (Polaris), which also happens to be the first star in the Little Dipper’s handle, if you follow them to the North. Leo will be seen if you follow the pointer stars to the south.
In the sky, what is Leo?
A lion is symbolized by the big equatorial constellation Leo. Around February, it is most visible in the midnight sky. Regulus, the constellation’s brightest star, is located quite close to the ecliptic, the route that the Sun follows across the sky every year.
Leo is located how many light years away.
There are several brilliant stars in Leo. With a visual magnitude of 1.36, Regulus is the brightest star in the constellation and the 22nd brightest star in the sky. It was regarded as the keeper of the sky in antiquity. There are at least four stars in the multiple star system. It’s 77 light years away from Earth. Algiebra is the second-brightest star and has a magnitude of 2.08. A binary star system with a distance of about 130 light years makes up this system. With a magnitude of 2.14, Denebola is the third brightest star in the sky. It is a blue-white subgiant star that is about 36 light years away from our sun.
There are five Messier objects in Leo, all of which are galaxies. The intermediate spiral galaxy M65 has distinct black dust lanes that can be seen. Another intermediate spiral galaxy, M66, is around 95,000 light years away from the Earth. Barred spiral galaxy M95 is almost directly in our frame of vision. A second intermediate spiral galaxy is M96. A supermassive black hole is known to be located at the heart of the elliptical galaxy M105. The Leo Ring, a massive cloud of hydrogen and helium, the Hamburger Galaxy (NGC 3628), and several other faint galaxies that can only be seen with powerful telescopes are some additional prominent deep-sky phenomena.