Leo

Jennifer Zaremba Period 9

Leo is the fifth constellation of the zodiac. It’s name is Latin for lion. Leo lies between dim Cancer to the west and Virgo to the east.

The task was not so easy since the lion had an impermeable skin that could not be torn by any metal, stone or wood. Hercules was compelled to fight with the beast without any weapons . The lion lived in a den with two openings into it.

According to Greek mythology, the lion had become a big terror for the people of Nemes in ancient Greece. Hercules was given the task of protecting people by killing the lion. The task was the first of his 12 famous labors, all of which he completed successfully.

Hercules plugged one of the openings and entered the den empty-handed from the other. He strangled the lion to his death and using one of his claws tore away his skin, which he later used as an impermeable armor on his body for the remaining 11 tasks that he had to complete.

As Hercules came out successful in his first labor, his step mother was furious but she couldn't have undone what Hercules had done. She still managed to raise the soul of the Lion high up into the sky where, today, it can be seen as the constellation of Leo.

Mythology

The first two stars of the Big Dipper point to Regulus, which

is Leo’s brightest star.

Leo is visible from February through June. Cancer sets to the east and

Virgo is to the west. Hydra

and Crater are below Leo..

Regulus(Alpha Leo) Denebola (Beta Leo) Algieba(Gamma Leo) Zosma (Delta Leo) Ras Elased Australis (Epsilon Leo) Adhafera (Zeta Leo) Chort (Theta Leo) Al Minliar al Asad (Kappa Leo) Alterf (Lambda Leo) Ras Elased Borealis (Mu Leo) Subra (Omicron Leo)

Named stars in Leo

Deep Sky ObjectsLeo contains many bright galaxies, of which Messier

65, Messier 66, Messier 95, and Messier 96 are the most well-known. The first two are a part of the Leo

Triplet. The Leo Ring, a cloud of hydrogen and helium gas left over from the Big Bang, is found in orbit of

two galaxies found within this constellation.

Messier 65

Messier 65 is an intermediate spiral galaxy about 22 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1780.

- An intermediate spiral galaxy is a galaxy that is in between the classifications of a barred spiral galaxy and an unbarred spiral galaxy.

A barred spiral galaxy is a spiral galaxy with a central bar-shaped structure composed of stars.

An unbarred spiral galaxy is a type of spiral galaxy without a central bar.

Messier 66Messier 66 is an intermediate spiral galaxy about 36 million light-years away in the

constellation Leo. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1780.

-An intermediate spiral galaxy is a galaxy that is in between the classifications of a barred spiral galaxy and an unbarred spiral galaxy.

A barred spiral galaxy is a spiral galaxy with a central bar-shaped structure composed of stars.

An unbarred spiral galaxy is a type of spiral galaxy without a central bar.

Messier 95Messier 95 is a barred spiral galaxy about 33 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781, and catalogued by Charles Messier four days later.

A barred spiral galaxy is a spiral galaxy with a central bar-shaped structure composed of stars.

Messier 96 is an intermediate spiral galaxy about 31 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781.

Messier 96

- An intermediate spiral galaxy is a galaxy that is in between the classifications of a barred spiral galaxy and an unbarred spiral galaxy.

A barred spiral galaxy is a spiral galaxy with a central bar-shaped structure composed of stars.

An unbarred spiral galaxy is a type of spiral galaxy without a central bar.

Regulus, shining at the heart of Leo the Lion, is near the end of the list of first magnitude stars. At a distance of only 79 light years, it shines in our sky at magnitude 1.35. The Latin name means "the little king," the reference to a kingly star going back to ancient times. Regulus marks the end of a group of stars called the "Sickle of Leo," a sickle-shaped figure that outlines the head of the Lion. The star is almost exactly on the ecliptic, the path of the Sun, and is regularly covered over by the Moon. Regulus is a "main sequence" star, a so-called dwarf that like the Sun, is fueled by the internal fusion of hydrogen into helium. Though technically a dwarf, Regulus is still visually 150 times brighter than the Sun.

Regulus

Denebola, Leo's Beta star, is the easternmost of a triangle of stars set to the east of Regulus. It has a magnitude of 2.14. Denebola is a white class A (dwarf (hydrogen-fusing) star of a temperature of 8500 degrees Kelvin. At a distance of36 light years, it appears more dim than it actually is. Denebola is more luminous than the Sun, emitting 12 times the solar energy.

Denebola

www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations

www.dibonsmith.com/stars.htm

www.astro.uinc.eduSources